Ninja academy
by Angevelinka
Summary: In ninja academy many things happen; when two redheads - Kushina the Bloody Habanero and Daichi - the future Fourth Kazekage begin to destroy the system, it's duty of Minato to stop the chaos. But what if the future Hokage is... a woman? Gender bender fic
1. Chapter 1

_AN: This is yet another result of RP session I had with Panur; it was supposed to be a short drabble about Minato's (Fourth Hokage) and Daichi's (Fourth Kazekage's given name in RP) teenage puppy love, but after she begged me to do a sex change to Minato it turned out in something much longer. Just to be clear – I'm against gender bendering and this was only a curious exception. Needless to say, it was not the RP I had the most fun with, but I hope you will enjoy what's been born from it. Yours, Angevelinka._

They lied in a bed, a habit of their that developed from both of the sides. Daichi had a long evening after him, been writing up assignments for possible traits of shurikens flying in the winter night above the unsteady ground – which probably meant sliding to an enemy that attacked – probably sliding too. He never knew and nobody knew as the teacher usually just threw the sentence and made them think of every possible variation of an attack, situation and whole fight – a very long and tiresome job that only older kids above fifteen had been assigned. Minato had yet to experience the pain of such – that's why the older boy left him play with his hourglass from his home. When he was done, the boy seemed to be asleep so he just got into the bed quietly and turned off the lights.

The night was serene. And oh, how serene it was. Even as the minutes passed – single, in couples, in quadrants – the hawkish eyes still didn't close and gazed at him, shining with whites. Daichi obviously had problems with sleeping lately – or so it seemed as he never talked about it and never admitted it happened. Even after such a long evening. And oh, how serene it was. Even as the minutes passed – single, in couples, in quadrants – the hawkish eyes still didn't close and gazed at him, shining with whites. Daichi obviously had problems with sleeping lately – or so it seemed as he never talked about it and never admitted it happened. Even after such a long evening.

At first it was made very, very carefully and non-suspiciously at all – the saffron haired teen (whose hair seemed to gain more of a rust shade in the night) moved closer to the sleeping boy so they touched with arms. Then, like if the gesture itself burned him, he got up looking down at him for some painstakingly long seconds that the never ending 'shhh'ing of a hourglass from Suna provided. Then he leaned down again, propping his head on an elbow and looking down at him.

'I never…' could be heard faintly in the silence of the room as he moved his mouth, but barely, only barely. 'I never thought that there will be a day I would choose sunlight over the moon.'

And as those words died on his lips, he hunched down to steal a kiss. It wasn't the physical nearness that woke the genin up - even that close, the older teen was hiding his presence and in his sluggish state, Minato hadn't been able to detect it- but the faint dips of weight on the mattress. It wasn't by any means a large bed, even though two teen could fit comfortably on them, so when the blond felt his weight shifting faintly in response, he opened his eyes slowly.

Daichi was very lucky Minato was so used to his scent and appearance that he had ceased to register it as a threat, because standard shinobi greeting for someone too much into your personal bubble was a kunai in the eye, usually before even you were fully awake. As it was Minato blinked up sleepy grayish blue eyes at the redhead, looking just vaguely confused, mostly because he had the feeling he was still dreaming.

The other boy froze, expecting an attack, but as it didn't came, He loosened tensed muscles and blinked. Once, twice, tasting the breath of other in his own mouth. Then he finally closed his own eyes and leaned down, claiming the others lips in a light but needy kiss he never experienced and never tried with anyone. It felt good to get lost into the overwhelming feeling of the fluttering he felt inside, not to be still awake in it, not to be aware of anything else. But then… one was never too sure.

He opened his eyes and backed away a bite, looking at the blond again. It felt almost wrong to get conscious again but then it felt strange to do it at all. It was a part nobody trained ninjas in so nobody could tell him if he was doing right or wrong beside the other person. So he waited for his mark.

Minato had become defiantly aware of his own consciousness and the reality of the situation by the time insistent lips pressed against his, but there still was no reaction from the younger boy, and by the time the older teen pulled away, Minato was staring up at him with fully awake eyes, though he didn't seem to be angry or even surprised, just slightly confused.

The other teen hovered over him for another moment or two, then he frowned lightly, his face falling on parts. The lack of reaction seemed to be a bad sign, a sign he was afraid of getting, though it didn't look as bad as he suspected it would – he still had both of his eyes.

'I…' he said, leaning down again, but stopping just before he could touch the lips again 'I…' Finally, he backed away, sitting up. 'I'm sorry.'

Minato stayed where he was a few more seconds, blinking up at the dark ceiling, then turned himself lightly to the side so he could stare up at the redhead.

'...you didn`t want to kiss me?' What else would the other nin be sorry for? Even though it was a little stupid to kiss someone and be sorry about it afterwards...

The other teen looked back at the blond, not understanding question at first. Then he looked at the window. No, there was still night out there, the time passed, beyond all he felt, quite normally.

'No, I did, I…' he said, no knowing what to say, then he turned slightly to Minato, observing him from the corner of his eye 'Can I kiss you?'

'Yes.' he said, still staring up at him in the same calm way as he had before. What a stupid thing to ask. if he had already kissed him once and he hadn`t said no, then why would he ask this time. Suna nins were so strange...

Daichi turned to him, surprised and amazed at the same time, not knowing what to say. He shouldn't feel so giddy about it and he shouldn't feel so excited about the fact that the blond just allowed him to kiss him. And yet, he couldn't contain the trembling of the hands as he laid down again, trying not to crush the figure underneath him. It felt almost unreal, almost impossible, but it seemed that not all people viewed him as a ninja to be used if they had an idea that he might be… kissable. Kiss had a great value, he always knew that.

He slowly laid the hand on the blond's cheek, finding it soft and unmarred by facial hair yet and moved it to his hair, soft and bright, even in the faint light of the moonlight. A great, great value. Some people never kissed. He slowly moved down and touched the cheek with his lips, feeling how his heart's rate accelerated a bit. It felt almost as good as a victory in a good battle. His parents never kissed. He thought it was useless until granny told him how important it was. Strange thing.

He moved to de side, closing his eyes and reclaiming the lips yet once again. Now, when he was void of fear, he felt like if he was going to burst – his lungs, his heart, his stomach – his everything. And yet, he stayed in one piece as he let go of the lips, breathing and reclaimed them almost instantly. Strange, strange thing. That kiss.

Minato kept staring in that oddly fixated way of his- he had a tendency to stare at everything that he found interesting with almost animal-like fixation, and what was happening right now certainly deserved his attention. He had never seen Daichi act like this before. He had been surprised to learn that the older nin had quite the sensitive streak, as he liked to read books on poetry and other topics not-related to genjutsu or basic applications as much a she liked the ones on actual training. But then he had asked Jiraiya-sensei and learned that Suna was actually well known for exceeding in various types of arts and crafts.

Really strange thing, as all of the few Suna ninja that had been allowed to come to the resort were almost ridiculously strong and prepared for battle, despite their young age. He startled a little when the larger male adjusted himself so he was resting more fully on top of him, but ignored the fain traces of alarm such a position brought him- Daichi really didn't have a reason to kill him, and sleeping on his bed too often seemed kind of too petty a reason- and blushed, letting a soft almost-giggle when the older nin kissed his cheek.

He felt a little like an animal then, for some reason. This time when the other boy pressed his lips back against him, the pause was only momentarily. After a few moments, Minato leaned up into the kiss.

Daichi blinked, barely fluttering his eyes when he felt the lips pressing back against him and closing them again. That felt even better. He didn't expect the kid to respond to it so early and in such way, but that was more than he wanted. He let go of lips, kissing the childish cheek again, then going to the forehead, and leaving there a kiss also, claiming what he felt and got back to steal one more kiss from the lips. Okay, maybe two more. It felt pretty addictive. Especially when it made him feel so warm inside. A totally different kind of warm than the scalding hotness of Suna's sun.

He stilled into the kiss, shyly trying to lick at the front teeth of Minato, but he backed away quickly. It felt weird and as far as he knew, kiss contained touching of lips, so it was probably not the way it should have been done. He opened his eyes and broke the last kiss, hugging himself to the boy and letting himself breath. Who would have thought that something that simple as kiss would make him feel so exhausted. And yet, it was a good kind of exhaustion. He slowly moved away, but kept his hands on Minato, hugging him loosely and one more time kissing him on the forehead.

Maybe it was going too far, far too far, but now he just felt too happy and too moved to even think about it. It felt just right to do that.

'Stay with me, Minato…' he murmured, wondering if the teen would or would not wait with him till the morning. It would be bad if he wouldn't. That's why he tightened his arms around him a little more. But only a little. He felt happy. The waiting was worth the prize.

He felt a little like an animal then, for some reason. This time when the other boy pressed his lips back against him, the pause was only momentarily. After a few moments, Minato leaned up into the kiss. Daichi blinked, barely fluttering his eyes when he felt the lips pressing back against him and closing them again. That felt even better. He didn't expect the kid to respond to it so early and in such way, but that was more than he wanted. He let go of lips, kissing the childish cheek again, then going to the forehead, and leaving there a kiss also, claiming what he felt and got back to steal one more kiss from the lips. Okay, maybe two more. It felt pretty addictive. Especially when it made him feel so warm inside. A totally different kind of warm than the scalding hotness of Suna's sun

He stilled into the kiss, shyly trying to lick at the front teeth of Minato, but he backed away quickly. It felt weird and as far as he knew, kiss contained touching of lips, so it was probably not the way it should have been done. He opened his eyes and broke the last kiss, hugging himself to the boy and letting himself breath. Who would have thought that something that simple as kiss would make him feel so exhausted. And yet, it was a good kind of exhaustion. He slowly moved away, but kept his hands on Minato, hugging him loosely and one more time kissing him on the forehead.

Maybe it was going too far, far too far, but now he just felt too happy and too moved to even think about it. It felt just right to do that.

The blond felt a little stuffy as he was pressed down into the mattress by the older nin, his arms pinned to his side by the strong grip the other had on him and heavier weight pinning him down as he made a curious noise in response to his teeth getting licked- it felt funny when the tongue brushed against his lips- but it was oddly a sort of uncomfortability in the pleasant spectrum. He didn't feel threatened, so he didn't feel too bad about getting stuck to like a limpet. The older nin finally let go of him, both their breaths a little picked up, and he shivered again when the redhead pressed against his neck, the hot breath against his skin making small shivers go down his skin. He closed his eyes and made a small noise as the other kissed his forehead again,

'Stay with me, Minato…'

'Okay.' Why would he go anywhere else? He had already decided he would stay here for the night…

Daichi smiled a little into the embrace. Now he had what he really wanted. The rest would get problematic by tomorrow but now – he was okay.

As tomorrow came, he woke up slowly. The morning Sun always was a sign of heat coming up, no matter in what place he was, so he woke up into a daze just when it hit his eyes. But as the time passed the awakening just turned into a full awareness. He slowly turned his head to the side, noticing Minato in his bed and he move closer. Gods, he was such an angelic creature. The color of his hair always reminded him of paintings as 'blond' in Suna was always a little dull or dirtified. Here it was just perfectly clear. He stroked the head, wondering what did he do last night.

If he remembered well, he had just kissed him on the forehead. That was not the best move and if anyone would know, this would make a disaster on his opinion. All people knew that you were not to do that to everyone. But it felt right. It felt also good that the boy didn't run away from him. That meant he really might have felt something for him, even, if by his standard of thinking he was just a little… bended in wrong way. But everyone knew what such behavior meant . He slowly kissed the cheek of the blond, knowing, that if anything, morning breath was not something anyone would want to be woken with and hugged the body closer. You're mine to be with, no matter what will come later… for I decided that way. 'Hey, Minato-kun…'

The blond woke with a start, sitting upright in bed and staring around confusedly. It was rare for him to sleep very deeply, and he usually tended to wake up several times around night, taking a good half hour or so to get back to sleep afterwards. He had slept pretty deeply, and as such, it took him a few seconds to remember where he was and what he had been doing. He remembered Daichi having dragged him under the covers and pulled him to his chest, and he had stayed there obediently for about an hour, until he was sure the older male had fallen asleep. Then he had started moving very, very carefully, one inch at the time, until he was giving his back to the older boy.

It wasn't that he had anything against being held, as he had found it was a surprisingly nice feeling and something he wouldn't mind repeating more often, but he just couldn't sleep in that position. It wasn't comfortable. Once he was on his side he felt better, though his back now was cold because of the air filtering on it and he couldn't quite get the cover to get like he wanted. Not all was lost, though, as his squirming to find a better position caused the redhead to make a sort of displeased noise and curl against his back, throwing an arm around his waist and pulling him back against his chest. Which solved the heat loss issue quite nicely, as there wasn't much of it with a bigger body glued to your back.

He was waiting for the Sunanin to fall deeper asleep so he could move again, but the warmth must have lulled him to sleep because that's the last he remembered, soft breathing against the back of his neck and an arm thrown around his waist, pulling him close.

'Ah… sorry.' He smiled at the older teen, his body finally relaxing 'Good morning, sempai.'

Daichi smiled at him, stroking a bit of his side. It was one of those rare moments he wished would never go away once they happened. It was quite early, so they probably didn't have to get up for another hour or so. So maybe it was still his to elongate. 'Had nice dreams?' Really, the kid was too cute for words. He knew what was good.

The blond thought about it, one hand reaching to toy with his necklace absently.

'I think I dreamt something about caterpillars.' he answered finally. He did think he had dreamt something with squirmy things, at least, but he couldn't remember much of it. He rarely could remember his dreams, even though everyone had them. 'Thank you for having me sleep here again.' he said, as he always did after crashing on the Sunanin`s room. He usually said it also to the other roommates, but one was permanently gone and the other still sleeping, so he just stayed where he was, staring at the older boy as he stroked his side.

'You can come anytime you want.' said the other teen, slowly stopping the stroking and hugging the body from behind tightly. Minato was such an innocent person he just seemed to wait for him to be loved up and he had nothing against it. If it only wasn't for the fact that his teammate was sleeping just right next to them and would wake up sooner or later. He would never talk himself out of anything if he got caught on molesting the little kid. So he just kissed the sunshined hair and let himself lay close, breathing into the other's scent. He could be here like that forever. 'I haven't dreamed about anything nice, but I didn't have to.' He muttered, making the boy lean against him. Minato still seemed to be just a little apprehensive when it came to touch.

'I have it just right here so I'm all right… I adore you, Minato.'

The younger boy turned his head, looking at the older shinobi in slight surprise. Adore? That was sort of a weird word. Especially to apply it to another person and not some religion, and even stranger considering it didn't seem to be something Daichi would say lightly. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say in return.

'Thank you, sempai.' he said in the end, body relaxing slightly as he let the older male pull him closer. 'You are so nice to me.'

'I will be more than nice.' answered Daichi truthfully, cuddling the body only a little bit closer and leaning down to steal more of slow, wet kisses from the blond's mouth. He was content. After a moment, he leaned down and kissed the blond's forehead yet again. Now he felt satisfied. Minato was his now. Nobody's else. It was the time of peaceful sleep for him a last.

Minato jerked a little, surprised by the sudden affections, but almost immediately he relaxed responded as well as he cold, which really wasn't much, considering his inexperience… but that was okay. He'd get better with practice, like everything else. Being clutched like this was a little overwhelming, but not really unpleasant at all. It was nice to be recognized and appreciated by someone like Daichi.

He stilled into the kiss, shyly trying to lick at the front teeth of Minato, but he backed away quickly. It felt weird and as far as he knew, kiss contained touching of lips, so it was probably not the way it should have been done. He opened his eyes and broke the last kiss, hugging himself to the boy and letting himself breath. Who would have thought that something that simple as kiss would make him feel so exhausted. And yet, it was a good kind of exhaustion. He slowly moved away, but kept his hands on Minato, hugging him loosely and one more time kissing him on the forehead.

Maybe it was going too far, far too far, but now he just felt too happy and too moved to even think about it. It felt just right to do that. 'Stay with me, Minato…' he murmured, wondering if the teen would or would not wait with him till the morning. It would be bad if he wouldn't. That's why he tightened his arms around him a little more. But only a little. He felt happy. The waiting was worth the prize.


	2. Chapter 2

"Sensei, Minato looks kind of weird.'

'Your face looks kind of weird, shut up.'

The blond hissed, dark blue eyes narrowed angrily. That was enough to make Jiraiya look away from the general area where the spine of the kunoichi in front of him ended. Not the saying that his youngest pupil looked kind of weird, because Minato was plain weird and that wasn't news at all. The answer was what caught his attention.

He could count the times the short blond had answered to his teammates unpleasantly with the fingers on one hand. So far, it amounted to two, and both times because one of the others had done something that had screwed up the mission. It just wasn't in the blond's character to talk like that. Lately he had noticed that his star pupil looked a little paler and sometimes found him frowning lightly as if he had some problem he couldn't solve.

He had attributed it to some new technique he was trying and couldn't quite perfect, but now that he thought about it, a week was kind of long a time for something to go unsolved. Sure, the blond was a perfectionist, but to take a week to solve something was unheard of. By now he would have either figured it out himself or already gone ask him or that damned Suna brat he seemed to be attached at the hip to.

He stared at the white-clad genin and not for the first time wondered how the hell did he manage to keep that uniform of his clean.

'Minato, are you sick?'

'No.'

He waited for some more elaboration, but Minato was still looking at the floor as if he expected to find pennies on the path to this stupid C ranked mission, arms crossed over his chest. Stubborn little brat.

He stopped on his tracks and waited for the genin to catch up with him, and when he did, he sneaked a palm under the back of his shirt and pressed it against his back. The blond jumped a little at the unexpected invasion, tried to jerk away, but then just huffed and stayed still, not reacting to the palm pressed against his back one way or another. Jiraiya frowned. Maybe, just maybe, the blond had a bit of high temperature, but nothing that was life endangering or even a good cause to stop and camp down. Minato hadn't complained about being tired… Not that he complained about anything, really, but other than that and having a bit of a harder time to wake him up that morning, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him.

'Are you done, sensei?' the blond asked calmly, giving the older man that strange, sullen look that was completely unlike himself.

'Are you sick, brat?' he asked again, giving the younger boy a searching look.

'No.' the teen emphasized, then continued walking once his back was freed. And he wasn't. He just felt weirdish. Unpleasantly so.

#+#+#+#+#+#

'Minato-kun, aren't you going to eat that?' The blond answered with some vague noise without looking up from his slumped position and pushed his tray in front of his older teammate. 'Thanks, Minato-kun, you are the best!' Tetsuo replied with a grin and started enthusiastically shoveling the food the blond had barely touched.

Whatever, have him stuff himself with it. Minato just wanted to sleep… His stomach still had that odd heaviness to it that had nothing to do with food and all he wanted was to curl up and sleep it off. Only so far sleeping it off hadn't worked too well… but maybe that's because he had been having one stupid mission after the other? He'd take the day off and just rest up. They didn't have anything else scheduled until the next week, and Daichi would be back from his own mission tomorrow. Which meant he got to have the redheads bed all for himself that night.

Normally, he didn't like invading the older shinobi's private space without him being there, but he didn't think he could bear Tetsuo's snoring for one more night. Not without chocking him in his sleep. Besides, Daichi wouldn't mind if he came back and found him there already. The older nin liked holding him and for some reason he had the feeling that being touched by the other might make him feel a little better.

And Sabaku no Daichi had a hard day. First, he was taken to the ungodly four hours of exercising that all Suna ninjas did, just to not forget how it was at home and not to get too accommodated to lazy and fresh climate of the stationing place, then, when it was just a time for his rest, the B-ranked mission was pointed out to be done and he spent a whole day on running around the forest full of tigers, wild boars and big snakes that were very aggressive. It made him use almost all his kunai sets to not be bitten by any of them out of sudden (luckily, the diamond ring was found finally somewhere completely else and he didn't have to worry about using Suna shurikens he was not as good at as he was supposed to be in the damp forests – the place of his stationing).

So once he was back at his academy flat, he was sticky, dirty, almost dead, dirty, dead, sticky and dirty, oh, and dead, did he mention that? Probably he did. So the last thing on his mind was cuddling with anyone, and especially pretty blond boys, when…

'What are you doing here?' he asked, after entering his room and starring three full seconds at his own bed in silence 'It's supper time.'

But of course, his bed was full of pretty young boys… a-hem, boy waiting for him. Not that he didn't mind and wouldn't want to cuddle up with him… but not in such state. Daichi liked his things pretty and clean. Brushing his hands against the pretty face in that state seemed to be almost like an unforgivable sin now.

So he only had bended down to brush his dry lips against the temple of the blond and got up to take a quick change of his clothes. Thankfully, the water was just as he left it – in the bucket, and nobody had removed it. For once nobody wasted the incredible liters of liquid like if it was made of dirt.

Minato wasn't asleep. Almost but not quite, just like he'd been for the last three hours he'd been lounging in bed. He wasn't going to kid himself anymore - he felt sick. Not nauseous sick, not painful sick, even though he did feel kind of nauseous and kind of pained, but nothing like any sort of nausea and any sort of pain he'd felt before. He just felt heavy and sick and hot and cold and just irritated at everything around and all that existed. It's like the world had purposely worked by itself to be as impossibly annoying as it were by doing exactly what it did every day.

When the older nin arrived Minato again answered with some non-committal grunt that he hoped sounded more sleepy that rude and curled more around the pillow. Pressing it against his stomach helped a bit.

Daichi rose his eyebrow at that behavior, but didn't really comment. He washed himself quietly, carefully doing everything to not waste a droplet of water. Once he was done with his skin and finally felt more fresh than clammy, he wore the fresh clothes and came back to the room he went out from. After a moment of staring at the blond tuft of hair, he sat down near the boy and snuck his fingers in the soft tangles.

'Had a bad day?' he muttered, stroking the scalp of Minato for a moment, then he leaned down, kissing the soft cheek 'Me too. Want to talk about it?'

As usual, the little blond tensed slightly at the contact, then slowly relaxed. It always surprised him that Daichi would want to touch him at all, not to mention that he would do it as often as he did. What surprised him more was the fact he had the feeling he rather liked it, and for some reason that made him feel slightly uncomfortable. No one ever touched him more than necessary unless it was a mission.

Angling his head a bit, he stared up at the older boy, feeling the fingers stroking the skin on his head and actually felt compelled to tell him about how he was feeling… But then, if he did say anything… Daichi would start questioning him about how and why and when and how long and then he'd bodily drag him to the infirmary regardless of if the younger shinobi wanted to go or not.

'No.' he said sincerely, softening the negative by giving him a small smile. 'You can tell me about yours, if you want.'

Daichi smiled lightly and got up, only to lay down properly on bed and cuddle with the blond. If he wanted to stay for a story, he could as well make it comfortable for himself. With a light hand he had grabbed the pillow that the blond was holding onto and tucked it up under their heads.

'It's getting between us.' he said on the excuse and leaned down to kiss the boy on the cheek again. So far the kiss on the lips was the most he had dared to think about so he wanted to savoir the fruits of it slowly. They had time to kiss.

'It was an ordinary day of an ordinary ninja.' he started with a soft voice, getting a little closer to the blond and hugging him to himself a little more 'It started with training that begins only when sun gets up…' And then he dwelled on how it prolonged, mentioning all stand-ups and runs and turns and sit-downs, talking about how the Third was a sadist and how he admired that in him. It really was a pleasure after all to have a blond near him now. It seemed he was mistaken previously.

Minato swallowed the moan bubbling up his throat when the pillow was removed and his stomach suddenly felt very much like a defenseless spot. He also had to swallow the urge to pull his knees to his chin and rock a little. But then Daichi pulled him close up which was good, and put his arm around his waist, which was better because he was warmer than the pillow, and now he could hear him talk.

Because he really liked the older boy's voice, which was so incredibly nice and soothing when he wasn't busy snarling orders to his teammates or growling at shinobi from other villages one wouldn't believe it if it hadn't been heard before. Sagara, the teammate that Daichi had lost about a year ago had told him his mother had been some sort of incredibly talented singer in Sunagakure. It seemed that people from Suna couldn't live without not only being fearsome fighters without some artsy stuff to balance things out.

He listened to the 'story' with a small, contented smile that had more to do with his current location than actually finding funny what the other was saying (forest of death wasn't a laughing matter, Suna nin or not) and waited some more to make sure that the other was done.

'Long day then, sempai?' he asked, smile widening just a bit. 'You should go get something to eat anyway.'

Daichi had smiled back, then locked his eyes with the blond's, stroking his cheek lightly.

'I have everything I need here.' he muttered and leaned down for a light peck It didn't taste of anything special, but he liked the sole texture of the skin 'Tasty.' And with that, he leaned for more.

Minato swallowed the moan bubbling up his throat when the pillow was removed and his stomach suddenly felt very much like a defenseless spot. He also had to swallow the urge to pull his knees to his chin and rock a little. But then Daichi pulled him close up which was good, and put his arm around his waist, which was better because he was warmer than the pillow, and now he could hear him talk.

The blonde smiled in return, leaning into the affectionate touch easily enough. Daichi often took advantage of doing this whenever his other teammate wasn't around and he… Didn't really care, to tell the truth. It felt too nice to complain about it. It also made him feel warm. And warmth made that sickish feeling lessen until it was barely noticeable.

'I don't think 'tasty' will get you very far when your next mission comes, sempai.' the blond answered reasonably once the redhead released his mouth. As much as he had unconsciously wanted this, Daichi *had* just come from three day long mission. And besides, he has no intention of going anywhere unless expressively asked to. He could wait for the chuunin to come back.

Not that he had phrased the question to learn when his next mission was scheduled…

Daichi smiled at the words and leaned on the pillow with a sigh. Indeed, he didn't eat from some time and his stomach had already forgotten how it was once it was full, so it stopped even complaining for it. But at the sole idea of some goat, hazelnuts, honey mixed with cider and dry meat his insides whined miserably. It was some feeding time.

'For once you could stop being so logical.' he murmured and pecked the blond on the nose 'I'll be right back. Do you want me to bring you anything?'

He smiled at the compliment. Of course he had to be logical, there was no need to go around hungry when they weren't in a mission. Too bad the other hadn't rose to the bait and told him when his next mission was. Now he didn't know if he could afford staying more than just one night.

'No, thank you.' he said, retrieving the pillow and curling around it as soon as the other removed his arms from him. Maybe he was a little bit hungry, but instinctively knew that if he ate something, it would only make him feel sicker. Once the Suna chuunin left, he relaxed again, his mouth drawn into a small gesture of discomfort. He decided it was a good moment to try to sleep again.

#+#+#+#+#+#

Minato woke up again, and this time immediately knew something had just gone wrong. It wasn't a specific physical feeling because he couldn't actually feel much, curled up as he was and enveloped in the half pleasant-half suffocating warmth of the heavy blankets (halfway to the mountains apparently was too cold for Sunanins…). The pain in his lower stomach hadn't exactly intensified or diminished, just hanged in there like some sort of water balloon filled with umcomfortableness. Water being the keyboard. He made a low complaining noise at the thought of leaving the bed to relieve his bladder. No, no, the bed felt too good. He wasn't going to get up for all the B ranked missions in the world.

But… with an annoyed noise in the back of his throat, the blond sat up, getting rid of the blankets and the pillow in the same movement. He didn't think he had slept much, or that he had slept at all in reality, because the room's owner wasn't back yet. So either someone had caught the other or it had only been a few moments. That's what he was thinking about as he stood up, and it was at that moment that he felt it.

Something going down in the sincerely most displeasing of ways he had ever felt (and in a mission he'd been dunked in a lake full of leeches and had to actually wait for them to fall down on their own, in another he'd been swallowed by a Sand worm and had to carve his way out of the things stomach, so he knew what disgusting was) and for a moment he stared down at himself. Nothing. He hadn't wet himself? The front of his pants seemed well, and what he'd felt hadn't felt like urine, but what the hell else… He took a tentative step in the bathroom's direction. The sticky it was still there. Against his underwear.

It was at this moment that Minato decided that maybe what he had wasn't that normal and maybe he should have said 'yes' when Jiraiya told him to go see a medic. In fact, it looked like a great idea to do right now. Just as soon as he found out what the hell was in his underwear. A moment later he was in the bathroom, and up until then he'd felt just annoyed about the fact he'd probably caught an infection and would have to be taking bitter-tasting medicine and suffering through Tsunade-sensei chasing him around to make sure he didn't try to sneak out of taking it.

Once he saw what his boxers were covered in, the thought died there as if from a broken neck, and for a while, there was no thought at all in the blond's head. It wasn't just a little blood, ether, it was a lot of blood. Well, not really, not like when he'd cut his leg with ninja wire and ended up needing stitches, not as if he'd been stabbed, but a lot of blood for an area that hadn't been cut or harmed in any way. Some sort of thought started taking form in his mind, something that might or not have been important, but all the same a thought that had no chance to voice itself as his brain jumpstarted back into action.

Some sort of inner trauma? He didn't remember having been recently hit in his stomach area or nowhere near, he had barely been scratched on this last mission, and that took the past three days, so even if it hadn't been some exceedingly slow trauma… Some inner rupture? But triggered by what? Nothing inside him hurt him. What he'd been feeling the past days was more uncomfortable than anything else. He tentatively laid a hand in his lower stomach. Nothing. Even if he added pressure… Well, it actually felt a little better, but that was just because his hand was warm. He moved to his forehead, not really feeling any difference. Even if he were having a fever, it couldn't be too high…

Even as he analyzed the situation, his hand moved from his forehead and caught the paper roll, cutting the amount and wiping himself –more sticky- blue eyes went down to the paper to find that there was even more blood there. And it didn't look too healthy at all. It was too dark and kind of thick and not at all like blood was supposed to be. He had to go to the clinic right now.

Even as that quite coherent thought formed itself and was unanimously approved by his higher consciousness, a small stubborn voice kept repeating that he had to hide it. Of course, that voice made no sense, but it was insistent enough to compel him to do his best to hide the evidence right there. He first wiped his underwear with more toilet paper, which was disgusting - but toilet paper was disposable and he wouldn't use a towel if it killed him- then put some more at the bottom to try and sponge back whatever else fell… if anything else decided to fall. Then he put his pants back and looked as carefully as possible to make sure he hadn't accidentally left some proof. There was a tiny droplet at the edge of the seat of the toilet, so he cleaned it immediately, then put it back up.

He looked around, but nothing else seemed suspicious, so he washed his hands, making sure no trace of smell was on them, then pressed the button until the water there was perfectly clear. Okay, the bathroom was done. He went back to bed and tidied it up, making sure nothing had been accidentally stained even though it hadn't managed to get past his pants - only it might do it now. It just might.

Looking around, he located his jacket and tied it around his waist. There, that was covered. His stomach didn't appreciate being left to fare with the lack of protection, but his t-shirt would have to do. Now just… he had to just write a note and say that… He'd forgotten he needed to get some things ready for his next mission. He was sure that he could have come up with something a little more inspired but the thing slid his way down, making a shiver of disgust crawl up his spine, and he decided that had to do. An apology later, he was out of the redhead's room through the window and headed to the clinic.


	3. Chapter 3

For once in his life Jiraiya wasn't afraid of being summoned by a raging Tsunade. In the past he wouldn't have doubted on writing his last will and maybe getting drunk before going there – just to numb himself a little, mind you - and maybe, just maybe, run away for his life to distances the woman wouldn't be tempted to follow him. Because Tsunade couldn't pass by a casino without getting in and she'd invariably loose all money she had and have to run from the people she owed it to, and then he'd be safe.

But no, he was safe this time. For once he basked in the knowledge he hadn't done anything to earn the freakishly strong woman's wrath… and how could he? He was just back from a mission, he hadn't even been nowhere near the bathing houses as of yet, and she could blame it on him all she wanted, but if anyone was peeking, it hadn't been him. He'd been busy having gone drinking with that kunoichi from Ame he had been trying to hook up with for most of the mission and he must have been on a lucky streak or something, because she had just invited him to her room and… just then… right then… Tsunade summoned him.

Now, considering he hadn't done anything to deserve having his fun so thoroughly ruined, Jiraiya felt he was entitled to some righteous anger. It felt good, actually, for once being the innocent victim here, now he finally had some realistic sources to use in his next book regarding unfair accusations. But the best part of it? Whatever Tsunade was going to accuse him of, he'd be right and she'd be wrooo-o-o-o-onnng.

It took a little while to find Tsunade as he leisurely strolled down the hallways of the clinic and took the chance for some well deserved sight-seeing with the delightfully short skirts most of the nurses wore until he finally found his teammate in a small room she probably used to take naps (and sip on alcohol, if he knew anything about her) in between rounds. He was about to open his mouth and start some delightful gloating regarding unfair accusation when he realized Tsunade had her amber eyes pinned on someone.

He was more than surprised when he followed their trajectory and found that someone to be his star pupil on a chair. The blond was wearing his normal black t-shirt and some sweatpants that were most obviously not his (considering the size) but the fact that he was doing that thing with his eyes was what clued him on the fact something was wrong. The blond often did, and more often than not said things that were a little weird, and certain reactions were a dead tell-tale of what he was feeling. Right now Minato's face was staring right ahead, supposedly at Tsunade, but his eyes were firmly stuck to a corner. He had managed to translate that particular expression of the blond feeling guilty and wanting to deny it, something like 'I had nothing to do with this'.

'Okay brat, what did you do?' he said, closing the door and leaning on it, arms crossed over his chest. Maybe Minato had finally decided to start doing his own 'research'? If so, he should have known better than to start at the natural habitat of a she-monster like Tsunade! A glimpse of her attributes might be worth having bones bent in ways they shouldn't but Minato was just a little boy with all his life ahead of him. He should try with something easier, there were plenty of less deadly kunoichi to choose from.

Minato's eyes went to him for just a moment, then back to the wall. And that's when Jiraiya started to worry, because the moment the indigo eyes were on him, all he read was panic.

'Minato?'

The boy had never had a wound that really required him to take off his underwear, and he always wore boxers. Whenever he had something in his chest he simply took his shirt off like any other guy would have done.

At this very moment warm, delicate and absolutely delicious brown eyes iced through the white-haired man's skull, pierced his brain and nailed it to his feet, leaving no room for escape or mercy. Yeah, a good start for the mood the lovely and absolutely cute woman Tsunade was in. She would have expected everything but not this.

'The darkest place is always under the candlestick, right?' she asked, smiling at him dangerously 'Leave the kid alone and before anything, tell me one little thing, Jiraiya…' she said, then opened her eyes, showing nothing more than pulsating anger through them. Usually it helped with shock. Easily covered her state. Yes. '…how long do you know Namikaze Minato as a person who is in charge of his safety and personal health?'

Jiraiya couldn't help it. He flinched. It was a conditioned response ever since Tsunade had finally correlated her missing underwear with Jiraiya`s smug looks back when they were fifteen. He hadn't been so thoroughly glared at by the bountiful medic-nin since then.

'Uh… well.' he looked at the kid. Minato immediately averted his eyes again and he could have sworn that the kid flinched. 'Um. Almost two years?' Maybe even over that, but hell if he remembered. All he knew was that his sensei had dumped that short and for all appearances useless underage kid on his lap to make it into a fine shinobi. No one could blame Jiraya for staring at his teacher like if he had lost all his marbles, thirteen was tender enough to send these kids into any sort of life-threatening situation, but Minato had been ten. He didn't care he had finished academy in half a year, no matter how good he might have been at it, ten was too young.

Only the little blond had shown to be much more capable than either of the kids he had been stuck with, even if he had never had any sort of previous training or any sort of bloodline limit top aid him, unlike Kenta, who had his sharingan to fare with. Hell, if he made chuunin this year, he wouldn't be surprised.

'Why? What did he do?'

Tsunade smiled and closed her eyes, making her appearance almost kind. If it wasn't for the big throbbing vein on her forehead that was.

'Come here.' she said, pointing the spot just in front of her. 'Now.'

'No, thank you.' the white haired man said automatically. 'I think I'll stay here, right out of throttling radius.' he forced himself to assume a more solid pose. 'I'm not going to let you kill me over something I didn't do. I'm just back from a mission and haven't even had time to go to the hot springs, much less your underwear drawer.'

Tsunade's smile twitched. Only a little bit. But enough to make her facial expression make a tiny, tiny crack.

'Okay, then I'll come to you first.' she said and got up from the chair. A moment later a flying Jiraiya could be spotted through the Konoha's sky just like a well served baseball ball.

'Two years, are you kidding me? I want you back in my office in five minutes!' howled the woman after the retreating figure, then she closed the windows. Jiraiya had much luck that for the passing day she left it opened. A few shards of glass were nothing but a nonexistent piece of paper for her and wouldn't stop her from throwing the man out of the window. So much for her to calm down.

'Phew. That was relaxing. Do you want some warm tea, Minato-chan? I could use some before that excuse of a teacher comes back and explains everything to me. Don't worry, everything will be all right.' And without waiting for answer of the kid, she started the water. No matter what the kid wanted some nice meds would surely be used for the situation blonde was in.

The blonde flinched at the additive that just until an hour before had been 'kun'. Now. This changed everything.

'It's not his fault.' The blonde mumbled under her breath. How could she have forgotten something like this? Not easily, oh no. it took every second of every minute of every hour to tell yourself you weren't a girl to start believing it. And all that effort had been ruined by something as stupid, as utterly absurd as ovaries that up until now had been perfectly fine, doing absolutely nothing but taking space deciding it was high time to start functioning. Jiraiya was back less than three minutes later, his cheek swollen enough to almost pass off for another head.

'I fdin esfrr hfs.' the sennin informed her, again closing the door behind him.

'Welcome back, Jiraiya.' said Tsunade, quickly mixing the herbs with the water, not even turning her face to the man who just came. She stopped for a moment. 'Or should I say… Mr. Womanizer? You say you didn't deserve this… Mr. Womanizer?' she said and turned around to give the kid the cup of tea and turned back to her own usual green one.

'Or would you like to be called Mr. Peeping Tom? Yes, Peeping Tom wouldn't deserve it. Especially since he is Peeping Tom. I can't believe you call yourself a ninja. And on constant research.' She held her cup for a moment, blowing air on the hot surface of the liquid, then she drank a sip. Then she put it down and crossed her arms. 'As far as I know the teacher is supposed to know at least mandatory truths about his own students. Can you tell me how come you have never explained such basics for a little kid, you oh-so-called-expert?'

Jiraiya stared at his teammate without having an idea what she might have been talking about, then at Minato, who still wasn't looking at him, only now he was concentrating on the contents of his tea as if they were some sort of scrolls forbidden for anyone but jounin. That's when things started clicking into place. The fact Minato was here under as much scrutiny as he was. The guilty expression on the brat's face. His silence.

'Oh God,' he stared at the boy in abject horror. 'You got someone pregnant?'

The blonde made a face at his tea and drank half of it in a gulp, not caring if it burnt his tongue.

Immediately another hit smacked the man upside down.

'Don't be stupid!' said the woman, holding her hand closed up in fist in case the man decided to spew out more stupidities soon 'Though I must say that's quite close to what the matter is about… I can't believe I for a moment really thought you were just joking and you do know everything but for some ridiculous reason decided to hide it. As a ninja you fail and for that you don't deserve a sitting chair. Brace yourself and listen.' she looked down at still whining man and narrowed her eyes. Just in case, she showed the fist in front of his nose. 'Are you listening?'

The sennin nodded obediently. In reflex, more than likely, but he was paying attention.

'Good.' said Tsunade and clapped her hands in the cleaning motion. Hopefully, no more of that would be needed now. She blinked and looked at the blonde for a moment, then turned back to Jiraiya. 'Then I have two news for you. Good one and bad one. Good one is that Minato is not sick nor hurt… not in the way you might have thought he might be until you started talking about this pregnancy.'

The sennin stared at the woman, obviously having no idea what she was talking about or what she could mean. He nodded anyway, just in case she decided to punish him for that.

Tsunade breathed, eyeing the man for his reactions. Then she turned around and got her tea once again. Unbelievable he wouldn't know about this. Just unbelievable.

'And the bad one is' she said, sipping the tea and closing her eyes for a moment. It was still hard to believe for her too, Minato didn't change his looks or anything so it was hard to see the kid in a new light now. She stopped the breath for a moment 'The bad one is that Minato… is a girl.'

There, she said it. Then she opened her eyes and pierced the man with her glare, not giving him a chance to react.

'And that's not all, there's more!' she said, jabbing him in the chest with her pointing finger 'Minato is a 100% woman and she had just started her first period today! And you not only didn't know about it but also didn't explain any of the stuff that girls go through in their periods so the poor Minato-chan freaked out on me! How can you call yourself a ninja? And a specialist of women at that! Huh? Jiraiya!'

Silence. All of the sudden there was a lot of it. Even the birds outside and soft chatter on the aisles seemed to quiet down to a dull, muffled nothing.

'It's a little too early for April's Fools, Tsunade.' The white-haired man enunciated slowly. Five months too soon in fact. 'That or you decided to start taking whatever kind of magic pills one can get here. Mixing them with alcohol can't be good for you.'

Minato finished her tea in another gulp and went back to staring at the corner. The older blonde blinked, then frowned.

'I knew you wouldn't believe me.' she said, and grabbed man by the collar, forcing him to walk with her to another room, which he closed away for Minato to not witness what was going to happen. Not that the clever kid wouldn't be able to get it anyway. But desperate time attended for desperate measures. Without useless words she opened the curtain where she held the clothes of the child. She told her she would wash them, but she actually lied, just in case something like that happened.

That wouldn't be needed as she could simply show the people ovaries of Minato by lightening the insides with her chakra for an x-ray effect, but at the moment she wasn't very keen for letting the man touch the girl. Or her underwear, as boyish as it was.

'It's her blood.' she said, pointing at the dirty stains at the maleish trunks 'And no, you can't touch it. It's the first and the last time I'm showing you this. So you'd better believe me or you're flying away from here again. Further this time.'

Of course Minato knew what she was going to do, she wasn't stupid. What else would she be needing to show him away from her? A chart with the basically anatomic differences? Difference she had so very, very carefully avoided… In the other room, there was even more silence to fare with the pair. Jiraiya stared at the woman incomprehensibly. Not because part of him wasn't already starting to put two and two together, but because the basic male part of his mind that was usually in charge when nothing else was felt completely aghast at the woman's idea that he might want to touch it.

He immediately turned away. That glimpse had been more than enough to actually drive him away from even wanting to so much as think about research. Like most males of the species, Jiraiya preferred to forget what most women went through five days of the month.

'Bu-But he… she… er. Minato… Minato is a boy's name!' the sage protested, his mind obviously not having caught up yet with the whole meaning of the situation. 'Sensei said he was a boy! I treat him like a boy, everyone does- you are a doctor!' he suddenly was pointing at her chest. 'How many times did you treat him, and you never said anything?'

How could he have known? Minato had never, for as long as he'd known him… her… acted like a female. Not once. Whenever the blonde had had a wound on the chest, the shirt was off with as much ease as he himself would have. Hadn't he even stopped to think once or twice that his chest was kind of soft for a boy his age? Pale and pinkish –he suddenly felt a little sick about thinking at all the time he'd seen the girl half naked. He might like young women as long as they were well developed, but there was such a thing as too young.

Even so, a little modesty? They'd bathed together, damn it! Only… wasn't Minato usually the first to get in and the last to go out? Always with that towel around the hips, and hadn't he-she given a black eye to Kenta when he tried to remove it as a joke? But surely someone would have noticed, someone like a Hyuuga…! But Minato, who was always a little too eager to train with anyone had never so much as mentioned or gotten close to one to be in the range of the byakugan, had… she?

Surely someone… anyone would have noticed, right? In an academy filled with ninjas from different nations, someone should have…

'She hid it?' he frowned, eyes drifting again to the underwear, then away from it as fast as possible. 'She hid it.'

This time not a question.

'I usually don't have time to check everyone when I have bazillions of ninjas waiting in line and I usually believe the card when it comes to gender.' said Tsunade, shrugging her arms. 'Besides I don't spend my time around her almost at all. But you should be able to tell the difference, Mr. Sensei-Womanizer.'

She didn't know if the blonde hid it, but all pointed at that. She wasn't very eager to strip off the clothes and until she had threatened her to destroy her panties to let her run back to her room naked she finally gave in.

'Probably had a good reason for that.' she said and looked at Jiraiya carefully 'What are you going to do about it?'

Reason? What reason, it's not like if girls couldn't become ninja, so why go so far as to hide her sex? 'Kill sensei.' the words were out of his mouth before he thought about it, but upon hearing them, they didn't sound bad at all 'Tsunade, I can't train a girl!'

'Why not?'

Minato, who hadn't been able to help herself had gone eavesdrop, but those words had shaken her out of the paralysis and her hiding spot. She walked to the pair, her eyes flashing in something that wasn't desperation as much a pure anger.

'Why not, I'm better than anyone else from my class! I do everything everyone does and I do it better! I'm better than most chuunins! I'm still the same, doesn't that matter?'

As if to prove the point, a strong cramp decided to make her insides churn, hands tightening.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at the girl's words, then pointed at the door.

'Go back to the main room and drink your herbs.' she said in a tone that was not objection-friendly 'You can punch him later from me, but now you're supposed to go through your period like a woman you are. Now!' And without even looking at what the blonde did, she turned to Jiraiya with the anger burning through her eyes like fire. 'So you say that our master had no problems with training me and now you have problems with such a prodigy Minato is? I'd say it's not her fault you didn't notice she is a female!'

'I drank them already!' the girl replied hotly, making Jiraiya gape at her. Minato had never in her life talked back to anyone, much less as superior. 'And I don't want to have a period!' Maybe such a comment would have been childishly cute or funny, but the blonde opened her mouth and continued. 'You are a medic nin, can't you take them out?' Jiraiya, who was still one step behind on every point of this conversation stared at the girl incomprehensively.

'Take out what?'

Tsunade blinked, taken aback.

'Do you mean your… uterus?' she muttered, then paled a little. The sole idea of the little girl taking like that made her feel unhealthy herself. 'Don't you want to have babies? I can't do something like that to a perfectly healthy little girl.'

Minato showed her teeth like a small, savage animal. Weather it was at the question or at being called 'little girl' would b hard to determine. Even so, the blonde just managed to look stressed and sick.

'No, I don't want them.' she said, her voice soft, but perfectly coherent.

'Are you out of your mind?' the white-haired man said, suddenly understanding what his student had said and standing in front of the long-haired kunoichi, as if to protect her from the girl's eyes. 'That's illegal and you know it! How can you even ask?'

Wasn't that the reason they were her anyway? After the last shinobi war, the casualties on all villages had been tremendous. They had been forced to sign a treaty and work together to protect themselves to the ever-looming menace from other continents. Even with that, all villages had suffered massive losses in their shinobi ranks. Civilians had been drafted and everyone had pretty much been told to reproduce as much as possible. In Konoha such things were still being treated as delicately as they could be, but to completely remove the possibility of reproduction unless it was for extremely good medical reasons had been penalized.

Even the idea itself was ridiculous, Jiraiya had never studied anything related to medicine and even he could tell that removing the reproductive system of a girl that had just started puberty would obviously have effect on her physical development, not to mention her chakra system.

Tsunade frowned even deeper and moved out from behind the man's back. What Jiraiya did was nice but she, as a woman, had to be able to handle it at least twice as much better. Not that she knew how now.

'It's your choice.' she said finally, then crossed her arms 'You are young and you can decide whether you want a baby or not, the life will probably teach you a thing or two about that soon. But I'm not going to do hysterectomy nor will anybody on that side of the world. And believe me, it's better to live with periods than with the uterus screwed up so much that even the best meds can't do a thing about them. I can either teach you what to do with that on missions or can kick you out of my office and warn every medic nin from you in the incoming days. You can choose what's better for you.'

Jiraiya was staring at his student as Tsunade spoke, mostly because Minato was hard to read for strangers because of the usual bizarre reactions she had to normal things or more often than not, the lack of. And every time the word *baby* fell from the blonde's lips, his student all but cringed. 'Cringed' as much as the barest and shortest of tightening on the jaw could be considered such, but guiding himself by the common lack of reaction the blond normally had, it was a lot.

'Damn it Minato, if you don't want kids just wear rubber… better yet, don't have sex, but don't mutilate yourself.'

*flinch*

Fuck it. What the hell was wrong with this kid?

'Minato, if you so much as think about doing something to yourself, you'll be withdrawn from the shinobi list.' he growled out, eyes set on the little blonde. Minato stared at him in a panic.

'You can't do that!' So he was thinking about it. She. Fuck it, fuck it.

'Yes I can. I will too, do you have any idea what you are thinking about? Brilliant or not, a physiologically imbalanced shinobi is more a risk than a tool.'

'You were thinking about hurting yourself!'

'It's not hurting!' The blonde all but spat. 'I don't need them and I don't want them. I don't want to be a girl.'

Tsunade's eyes widened at that. What?...

'Why not?' she asked 'What could be better than being a girl? Females are the salt of the earth who would remain tasteless without us. What's wrong with being a girl?'

Minato stared at the pair as if they were speaking to her in another language.

'Girls never achieve anything.' she said, arms wrapping around her middle and turning to look at one side of the room. Jiraiya stared. First at his student, then let his eyes move to his teammate. If that's what achieving nothing was like…

Tsunade looked back at him. Not nicely.

'Tell me you didn't teach her that.'

'You know I'd never said something like that!' He might be a super pervert and genius, but he'd never so much as dare to imply something like that. 'You'd kill me if I did!'

'Just checking.' Then she turned her gaze at the little blonde, actually not saying a word. What Minato said was a little… scary for a kid her age. She didn't like it, not in one bit. Especially when it was taking all her priorities away. She breathed audibly.

'Bullshit.' she said out loud 'Just look at me, I have proper title, status, body and money. If that's nothing then I'd rather achieve that 'nothing' than some meaningless maleish victories. And one day a woman will become Hokage and will show us all that women can do also what men can do and that they surpass them in anything. So don't talk nonsense.'

'Really?' the blonde suddenly spat. 'If something happened to Sandaime-sama right know, who do you think the council would choose? You? Or do you think Orochimaru-sensei and Jiraiya-sensei would be the first choices?'

'That's not true!' Jiraiya said, not knowing what he disliked more, the idea of his sensei gone, or the fact that what the girl was saying grinning a little too close home. Minato didn't give him time to make up his mind, either.

'How many female shinobi are there?' she gestured with a hand to the outside in general, referring to this community of shinobi and to their respective villages at the same time. 'How many of them make chuunin? How many of them make jounin? How many make ANBU?'

'That-' Minato ignored her teacher, instead turning to the older woman.

'Medic nins. How many of them, are female? Five for every ten? Or nine out every ten?' She wasn't stupid. One needed to only take a look at the hallways on any shinobi clinic to know the answer. 'Even at the academy the teachers make girls try to lean for studying medical abilities, because they think they aren't good enough for the offensive. One day?' The girl shook her head, a bitter grin in her face. 'That day will only come when some guy allows it. And not until any other available male option has been discarded.'

Tsunade looked at the blonde with something akin to pity. Not real, only that kind one an older gave to the younger who didn't know life that well.

'Maybe that's how it is.' she said, then crossed her arms 'But gods only know how much it cost me to bite through that to get what we have here. What do you think was ten years ago? No medic nins at all! I bit through because I had guts to stand up and didn't wait any male to think he had rights to allow me to stand up. I stood up on my own and I set my own rules. That's how it is in every world where someone has to finally stand up against the matters that has been turned wrong.'

Then she frowned and closed the distance between her and the girl. Then she poked the blonde on the forehead.

'Besides, Miss Smartypants, for so big words I think you're forgetting something. To be a medic you have to be awfully well talented and such a slow progress on that field is done only because not many make through the training at all. The fact that girls are tended toward this only shows that females are much more skilled than men who usually don't even tend to concentrate to find the difference between left and right kidney. How is that worse than offensive? Everyone at the kiddy grades can throw a kunai and hit bull's eye, to make a good healing jutsu you have to at least be a very good chunnin.'

She paused, watching the face of the rebellious youngster. Then she stood up.

'But I guess there's no sense talking to someone who with possibilities has no guts to actually walk her own ninja way. If you don't like it why don't you change it? But you can't change the society if you're not proud of being its member, and if you can't be proud of who you are then you can as well quit being a ninja.'

Jiraiya could testify to what his teammate claimed, and hell, if there had been more medics at the war, the losses would have been significantly lessened. But he also couldn't deny that everything the younger blonde had said was also a truth. Now he regretted that incendiary comment he'd given his teammate, which didn't change the fact that thinking about having a female student intimidated him. But Minato seemed to be done discussing, just shaking the messy blonde head and letting the tensed shoulders relax.

Tsunade-sensei didn't get it. It had nothing to do with the fact females were treated differently from males. It was just what they were allowed to learn, even at academy. Girls had to take classes for ikebana and tea ceremony. In place of those classes, the boys had extra taijutsu and genjutsu classes. Was it so surprising when the opportunity presented itself she'd just taken it.

'I'm never going to quit.' she said, but it wasn't a bow in response to the older woman's challenge. It was something sad and resigned, and her teacher, who was used to the blonde's somewhat static smiles was deeply perturbed about not only the revelation but the reaction Minato had had to the topic. He wished he had had a lot more alcohol before deciding to answer Tsunade's call.

'…how long will it take to get the charts documentation fixed?' he asked, massaging his eyes tiredly. Tsunade looked at him, then shrugged.

'We're at war. It can take from week to months. There are more important things than gender of one of the students.'

'Good.' Perfect. He had the feeling a hearing would be had on regards of this. He was going to kill Sarutobi-sensei. '…any other shocking revelation to be had?'

Tsunade looked at him for a moment with blank face. Then she spoke up.

'When a girl is starting to have her period there's a lot of changes happening around her body. There's blood, PMS and problems with getting pregnant involved. Soon after the periods start girls body begins to change, she grows, her chest develops, her hips starts showing off- do I have to continue talking where are you not supposed to look at when this happens?'

Jiraiya turned to give his teammate a look. Then he extended a hand. Tsunade rose slowly one eyebrow.

'If that gets any closer to my chest than it already is you're walking out of here with a broken jaw.'

The toad sage made a face in response.

'The flaks Tsunade. I think that by now I need them more than you.'

Without a word, the white-haired man removed the cork and started downing the contents as if they were water. Figuring she was dismissed, Minato turned around and left the room, arms still lightly wrapped around her midsection. She needed a shower. And after the shower, she needed to go buy girl things. Oh, joy.


	4. Chapter 4

Back in his own room the young Sabaku no Daichi sat at the plain table that he made himself during one of boring lessons where you were supposed to show what you've learned from survival skills. Other people tried to make some high classed useless objects and he made himself it. He barely passed as a table was not considered a 'surviving object' but he didn't care. In the end he kept it for himself and used well. Just a sign of the skills he never really needed. The food slowly grew in his mouth.

The dry meat of goat, the sour milk and the fresh water usually made his day, especially if he got some homemade bakery from the mud-made ovens, but now it all just tasted… transparent. Sure, it filled his stomach just nicely, but the sole purpose of eating for taste was lost. He stared at the little bowl filled with damp rice with wet raisins and frowned lightly. He took it especially for Minato to not feel left out when he was eating and when he came back to his room… he was gone. Sure, it took him some time to actually get all that, but still… the blond never vanished like that. He searched for a note, but didn't find any; only the slightly sour smell in the air indicated that something indeed had happened in the room.

He suspected some wound since it smelled of blood, but also it had different kind of aftertaste that lied on the tongue so he wasn't sure how to treat it. Whatever it was it was not making him feel any more comfortable. With the last dull bite he had finally cleaned all plates (wasting food was a sin) and moved out of the room. So far, nobody saw Minato walking by, but he couldn't hide forever, right? After a few useless speeches he had finally jumped out of the window and landed on the roof. A good observatory point was always from above.

'Ninpo: Daisan no Me!'

…with a little help of course. After making the third eye to watch where he couldn't see, he slowly started infiltrating the territory. If everything was all right, he would calm down. He only had to make sure.

It took a long while for any signs of the blond to appear, and when he did, it was a surprisingly unsmiling blond exiting the clinic in pants that weren't his own and hands wrapped lightly around the waist.

Daichi smiled at the sight. Sure, it didn't look pleasing or calming, but the sight of the blond being in one piece was enough. In the times like those even such little things brought smile to one's face. After dispelling the technique, he jumped off the roof, landing only a few meters away from Minato and scaring a few other students as they didn't see him coming. He smiled at first but then frowned and crossed his arms. If he wanted to scold the boy, he had to do it appropriately.

'There you are.' he said 'How could you just vanish like that from my room? That was really rude of you.'

He stopped, looking closer at the blond. He closed the space between them. Minato didn't look very healthy .

'Is everything all right? You don't look too good.' He didn't ask about the outfit yet. Hopefully, the blond would explain himself.

At the sight of the other, the blond stared for a moment, as if he wasn't sure how should she react, then smiled lightly.

'I left a note.' The blonde explained. 'I needed to… figure something out. I apologize.'

Daichi didn't move. Then he moved his palm over the shoulder of the blond and steered him out of the passage. There were too many people there to talk in private.

'Such as your pants?' he asked jokingly 'You wear different ones than you did before.'

The blonde tensed at the touch, even if she didn't reject it.

'I'd rather not talk about it.'

The features on Daichi's face had slowly stilled into a mask. He didn't like that tone, nor the answer. 'Has something happened?' he asked without much hiding. He glanced sideways, noticing that nobody was watching them and leaned over to whisper to the blond's ear 'You can tell me. I will try to help.'

Minato drew away at the sudden nearness this time, suddenly giving a strange, calculating look that had never been directed to a friend, much less the older boy. It wasn't like if she could hide something like that, not for long, but even so…

'I'd rather not talk about it.' she repeated mechanically.

Daichi looked at the blond for a moment, disappointed both for the lack of trust and body contact, but he decided against it and didn't pester the blond anymore. What was strange there was that different sour smell he felt before in his room – he felt it around the boy quite strongly now, like if it laid on his skin. He glanced at him, but he didn't see any wounds. Maybe it was medication? But he never smelled such a medication before… strange.

Minato waited a moment or two, but slowly relaxed when further questioning didn't come. Daichi obviously hadn't liked what she'd just done, but at this particular moment, she found she didn't quite care.

'I need to go back to my room.' she informed the older boy softly. 'Good night, sempai.'

The older boy's disappointment had only deepened. So soon? But they didn't even spend an hour with themselves? He missed his blond…

'I just got back…' he muttered insecurely, catching the blond by a hand 'Won't you sleep with me today?...'

Before even knowing what she was doing, the blonde moved her wrist in a way that easily allowed it to slip from the others grasp. Once she did, she stared at the taller figure, as surprised by what she had done as he was. It hadn't been violent by any means but… Everything was different now.

And she didn't want it. There was nothing she would like more than to believe that nothing would change, but the past had taught her that there was no way things could remain the same. She'd said it herself, hadn't she? Attachments slowed a ninja down.

'I'm sorry… It's just not a good time. Goodnight, sempai.'

A moment later, she jumped into the roof and sped off in her room's direction.

Daichi looked after the blond in silence, then, when the figure had vanished from his own eyes he grimaced. What was happening?... That was not how the things usually went!... Did the blond find someone new, someone better over him?... It couldn't be! He treated the boy like a piece of gold! How could it be? But how many times it was that ninjas were left by their lovers because their missions lasted for too long?... But how could have faith of the blond last only three days?... He couldn't understand.

And thus, for the first time in his life, he decided to break his own rules and listen to the gossips in the morning. He didn't have to be told. But people knew. They always knew something. But what he heard in the morning was not entirely what he expected to hear.

'That… Namikaze? Did you hear?... They said there was a lot of blood!...'

'Impossible!... How could this have happened?...'

'And to think it was a secret for so long!...'

'Can you believe it?...'

'Do you think there's more of such here?...'

'Heck, I wouldn't mind finding out!... I bet that Kimimaro in the younger classes is just the same. Just look at him…'

'Kimimaro? Forget it!...'

…to be honest, he didn't understand much at all. It seemed only that some kind of secret had spilled from the blond's side and that some blood was involved. So he was actually right about the wound part. But could it be that it was not Minato's blood since it smelled so differently?... He couldn't put the pieces together.

Finally, after a very disturbing news that 'Namikaze probably was one of those' he had enough and for once he decided to speak outwardly to someone on his own. This morning it seemed he sat close to Baki, the senpai from older classes who was already trying to find his way to the teaching classes. Good luck, he was actually much more talkative than the rest of Sunanins he knew.

'Hey, Baki senpai.' he murmured quietly, getting the attention of one eyed man to himself 'What is this whole uproar about Namikaze? Did he do something embarrassing again?'

The other teen looked at him for a moment, then got back to eating his dry plums in the thick oatmeal.

'Oh, didn't you know?' he asked curiously. Daichi rolled his eyes, which usually meant that he was on mission and he couldn't know things of new sorts. Baki understood. 'It's hot news.'

He swallowed another spoonful of his breakfast and chewed slowly until it was completely out of his mouth. Daichi waited patiently. Patience was everything in contacts with his fellow mates.

'Namikaze Minato was discovered to be a shemale.' he said, looking at the youngster with uninterested gaze. Daichi blinked, not understanding. She-what? 'In other words, a female in hiding. Nonexistent boobs and so on. All thanks to period.'

'That's not what 'shemale' means.' Interrupted usually silent Yura 'But about that period… it was seen as she ran with her pants soaked in blood. What a shame, really! I wonder how she can look people in the eye after that.'

'It was her first so people will be more forgiving.' said Baki again, eyeing the younger friend with pity 'But who would have known – a prodigy Namikaze Minato – a female? Not me for sure.'

'Minato? You mean Minako? The Namikaze girl?' interrupted another ninja, again from Sand 'A brother of a friend of mine actually was the one of a few who witnessed her walking in those pants…'

Soon, another Suna-nin joined. Then another. And even that pair of usually modest twins decided to join the discussion over the 'Namikaze girl'. A few moments later at Suna table people were so loud like they never had been during the past twenty years of Sunanins history. And the only person who didn't say anything was Daichi. Because, what he was supposed to say? He didn't know. The only thing he had in his head, was emptiness. Because… Minato?... A girl?...

In period?...

The words echoed in his head as he slowly, mechanically moved his own spoon, catching the plums out of his oatmeal and moving it aside as he slowly ate the soup of no taste. The time slowed down and then lost it meaning. He could have sworn he ate the oatmeal forever. By the moment he ended it, he felt at least five years older.

'Thank you for the meal.' he muttered with switched off tone and jumped up from the table, startling some people, but not much since they didn't understand his mood. After a moment, he was gone from the room. He had to find Minato. Find him – her…? – and ask, no, get the answer – if it was true. If he really was a… 'shemale'. A female undercover. He had to.

#+#+#+#+#+#

It hadn't been Minato's night. The tea had finally made some effect sometime after the shower and then she'd changed into clean clothes and gone buy what she needed. Which were diapers. You could tell her those were sanitary napkins and pads all you wanted but what they really were? Diapers. The fact every other female used them was of no consolation, and the things were so incredibly bothersome she couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep and managed to do so by sheer casualty.

She'd been woken up by Kenta shaking her awake and telling her someone had seen her going to the pharmacy to buy girl stuff and why would he need such a thing. Minato, who woke up to find that the soothing effects of the tea had disappeared, the pain was even worse than before and that he had never felt so crappy before in his life, just stared at the younger Uchiha. Kenta, caught the drift and disappeared for the night. Minato went back to sleep, and had barely managed to do so when Tetsuo came to the room to ask if it's true what he'd heard about him getting wounded. Minato, who had always had a sort of weakness for the chubby, stern looking yet unfailing sweet older boy, sat him down and calmly explained him he was a girl and was having her period. Tetsuo had looked at her as if she were mad.

Minato had grabbed his hand and put it between her legs. Tetsuo had blushed scarlet and left after mumbling some sort of incoherent babble, even though Minato doubted he could have felt anything with the mighty uncomfortable diaper in place. She went back to sleep. When she woke up again, she *knew* something had gone horribly wrong. So wrong that here she was, doing the laundry and hating, hating her newfound female condition.

'Yes, I'm a girl.' she said out loud, not looking up from the book she was reading as she waited for the sheets to get done. The kunoichis that had been supposedly working with the wash machine next to hers gaped, mumbled some apologies, then left. One would have expected everyone to know about it now. Any more whispering and she'd start wearing a shirt that said that.

That's how Daichi found the blonde. Sitting near washing machine, reading a book and alone in the sole empty room. All of that was already saying – no, screaming more of obviousness toward him than he would have wanted and yet, he still didn't believe. He stepped inside quietly and closed the door behind him without the usual creek they had.

For a moment he let his hand linger on the door handle, and then he finally moved. Tensing with every step. So much that when he finally could read the title of the book Minato was reading, his muscles were hard as steel. Almost like if he was preparing himself for a battle. He stopped only when the book caught his shadow, and waited, pale, void of words and all nervous. The only question of 'Is this true?' rang in his head like a fire alarm and rushed his breath, even if he put all of his strength into making it calm and steady. He was suffocating on his own calmness. Oh, please, Minato… please... let me wake up from this.

Minato didn't look up until he was nearly next to her, not because she hadn't noticed anything near her, but because everyone had been staring at her nonstop so she had started to disregard the situation. It wasn't until she felt someone so close and not moving she figured that someone wanted to talk to her. Seeing Daichi up close like that and especially giving her that look was not what she expected, and it was through conscious effort she didn't tense up. Slowly, she marked the book by folding a corner and closed it.

'Hello, sempai.' Next to her, the wash machine rumbled as it tumbled the sheets around.

'Minato.' Answered the older boy in acknowledgement and… that was where words got stuck. He didn't know what else to say, however else to form his questions, so similar to questions of everyone else, and yet, meaning no harm. Because surely… surely… He rose his hand, wanting to pet the blonde, but his palm froze just above the skin of his. No. Actually that was not what he wanted to do. He wanted answers. Not petting.

'Minato…' he started again, trying to hold the neutral mask on its place, but he knew it was already crumbling at the edges and he had no power to stop it 'Minato… what's going on?...'

There. The signal for talking. He couldn't form words. So maybe blond could do it for him. Segregate them in this chaos. For once.

The blonde stared at the hand as it stopped inches from the usual gesture. That made her feel even worse than she already felt. Part of her hadn't just expected it but been sure of it, and it still hurt. She could have easily danced around the question, but why make this even longer.

'I'm a girl.' she said calmly, even if she wanted to do… something else. 'I'm having a period.' The diapers were a freebie with package of fun.

Daichi's facial mask had cracked. He looked at the blonde, the Minato, the girl and his eyes changed, flashing away with slow widening and the horror it showed in them. He quickly took the hand away and curled it to his chest like if he was about to touch the poison ivy and he had just stopped himself in the nick of time. So that how it was in the end. A girl. A young girl with a period who was slowly becoming a woman.

And she was with him. Yesterday. When that happened. She was with him… in his bed… His eyes almost drowned in hurt. Drowned, and then simply switched off. Just like that.

'I'm so sorry.' he muttered, voicing his regret at the situation 'So sorry.' he muttered again, then stepped back, looking at the blonde still. And now he apologized for his feelings. 'Sorry.' And for what he was about to do. Then he turned away on his heels and walked away with quick steps out of the room. His breaths quickened. The mirage he made for himself that was now gone.

A girl. His breath quickened more. He spun his legs into light step, then almost instantly into wild gallop, until he was at the training grounds where nobody has shown up yet, until he reached the doors of his master, the Great Third Kazekage, until he banged his hands raw on them and until the man opened them up to him, his expression steely and deadly, as always when he did wrong enough.

This time he didn't even try to hold his dignity. The tears fell down his face at the first sight of the empowering figure. At this very moment, in the first rays of sunshine, the Third looked like a god. A god he so desperately needed now.

'I'm sorry.' he said again, then rose his hands to him like if he was begging for forgiveness. The face of the man remained unmoving 'I'm sorry… please… punish me…'

The man's face didn't even budge. Only harsh artistic eyebrows lined up into the majestic frown.

'Why?' he asked in the unemotional, deep voice of his. Daichi shook slightly in the lack of breath, but didn't let his hands down.

'I'm unclean.' he murmured in shaky breath. The man's frown deepened even more.

'What did you do?' he asked in the same tone, but this time more steely, more dry, like if the sandpaper was trying to scrap against the metallic surface. Daichi twitched.

'A woman…' he breathed 'An unclean woman had touched me…' He didn't mention that he touched her also. That wasn't important. He didn't tell who it was. It didn't matter. The raw, unforgiving eyes looked at him, piercing through his soul and he felt bare and defenseless, knowing, that even if kazekage couldn't read minds, he knew, deep down he knew what he did. He waited for the verdict.

'Come.' said the Third finally, catching him by his neck roughly, making him stand up 'Come and don't say a word.'

Daichi compelled. A moment later, after walking through the spaces of the house of the Third he never saw before, he entered the small room with single window only that looked dim and dark even if the sun was in the first beautiful shines already. The man slowly took off the glove from the hand which was holding him before and threw it on the floor with disgust.

'Sit here.' he said in the emotionless tone 'Sit and regret about what you did.'

And Daichi's breath hitched as he knew that man knew.

'We will see each other after the sun closes the eyes that had to watch your sinning.' And after that, the doors of the small cellar had closed. Daichi stared at them in silence. One, two. A girl. An unclean woman, a woman in her period, a taboo. The secret of other village who was never to be his to discover.

The secret that had already awoken the devil in himself. That was not how it was supposed to be. Completely not. When the sun slowly rose above the horizon, promising the brand new day, full of suffocating air and hot rays against the skin, the only one from the remaining team, girl, showed up in the steps of the house. When the Third opened the door for her, she bowed, not entering and waited. She didn't move when she heard the howls of the other teammate nor did she ask about the source when the man moved out of his house. Nothing interrupted her schedule, with or without Sabaku no Daichi. And the rest? Some things were better to be not understood; some things were better if they stayed untold. Because beside patience, Suna people were always silent.

Only the sands knew.

#+#+#+#+#+#

Minato had been expecting it. So she nodded at his apology, still smiling calmly at the older shinobi in the same way she smiled at him whenever he made her smile by actions and words alone and said nothing as he turned around and left, not glancing back. If you had been a boy, this wouldn't have happened. that insidious voice inside of her claimed, always angry, always poisonous and quiet for so long… Nothing would silence it ever again, not when it's truth were no longer deniable. It's always going to be like that, and nothing she will do will change it. Just like him and just like her, everyone will always think the same.

Her condition as female made her unable to deserve anything at all.

'Goodbye, sempai.' she said softly to the empty room, and her voice didn't break. It didn't matter. It didn't matter at all, attachments slowed you down and the less she had the better for her own self. It didn't matter if everyone whispered behind her back, it didn't matter if sensei didn't want her as his student anymore, it didn't matter if she never in her life so much as spoke to Daichi. It couldn't matter, because that would stand in her way. And she'd never allow that. She'd show them. She didn't want to be as good as a man, she wanted to be better. So much better no one would deny that truth.

And if it never happens?

'Then I never stop.' It was a promise that might or not be a curse… But even at four Minato had known that promises were meant to be kept or not uttered at all. Next to her, the wash machine rumbled, as if content.


	5. Chapter 5

Training had been, needless to say, an awkward affair. That Uchiha brat kept trying to make inappropriate questions that he should already know the answers of, considering that by the time he had woken up in Tsunade's couch, everyone in the community seemed to already know his star pupil was a menstruating female. Likewise, Tetsuo didn't seem to be able to so much as look in the blonde's direction without blushing scarlet and inching away. He could sympathize. He didn't think knowing so much about one's teammate natural circles was healthy.

'So um… how do you feel?' he asked after they were done with the usual warming up exercises.

'Sticky.'

Jiraiya actually winced about the chosen adjective, not that he could really blame the girl. Minato had yet to grasp the meaning of 'subtlety'.

'Minato, that's gross!' the Uchiha next to her nearly wailed.

'It's not my fault.' the blonde uttered, looking rather surprised by the outburst. 'If I could help it, I wouldn't be in this situation.'

And that was the problem with any conversation with the blonde. Minato was utterly devoid of shame on pretty much any topic that needed discussion and the worst part seemed to be that her answers made an argument either impossible or just too complicated and potentially mind scarring.

'Nevermind. I need to talk to you, so scram you two.' He made a gesture at both males, making one scamper off in relief and the other with a petulant glare. He rubbed his head. Tsunade had been nice enough to take care of the better part of his hangover, then awful enough to send him flying first class on manicured fist airlines for something he might or not have said regarding her current choice of sleeping attire. He turned to his genin, once again needing to look to convince himself that he wasn't mad, blind or stupid: Minato looked like a boy, talked like a boy and acted like one. And yet, he still felt like an idiot.

'Why did you do all this?' he finally said, frowning down at the young girl.

'I didn't. It started all on its own.'

'You know what I mean, Minato.' And if that look-to-the-side reaction was any clue, she did so perfectly well.

'…I wanted the training boys got.' she said, her eyes still fixed on a small, white capped mushroom on the floor. 'I knew it would be faster that way.'

'What would be faster?'

'…making ninja.'

The sage rubbed at his eyes.

'Minato, you honestly think that if you had been identified as kunoichi you would have taken any longer than you did?'

'Yes.' Not even a shadow of a doubt.

'Why?'

'I explained it yesterday.'

All too well. In total, all of the ninja nations put together had had seventeen Kages in the past sixty years. None of them had ever been a female. He was unable to disagree with the fact Tsunade had also been right, but there was also the fact that if Tsunade had been a man, she doubtlessly would have had it much easier to be not only heard, but followed in her logic. He should have wondered why it was so important for the young girl to become a shinobi as fast as she wanted, considering she was already about two years ahead than any other genin in all grounds, but his hangover and headache were muddling enough as it was. At his silence, the blonde squirmed slightly, then started talking.

'I'm sorry about this sensei, I tried to tell Tsunade-sensei that you didn't know, but she didn't believe me. I'm sorry about yesterday too, if you don't want me to be your student anymore, I understand. I'll speak with Orochimaru-sensei and transfer to his team.'

'I know, I know, I just… what?' he took his hand off his face to glare at the 'You what?'

'Transfer to Orochimaru-sensei's team.' The blonde supplied helpfully, blue eyes widening a little at the growing vein throbbing right under her sensei's bangs.

'Why would you do that?'

'You said you didn't want to train me.' For once in her life, Minato was starting to look a little agitated at the topic. 'Orochimaru sensei told me that I could, and he already has Mitarashi in his team so he doesn't mind-'

'When did he tell you?'

'What?'

'When did he make you this offer?'

'Oh…' She reached up with a hand and rubbed the back of her messy head. 'This morning, before I went to do the laundry.'

'How did he even know?' Minato looked a little surprised by the outburst.

'I didn't ask. I figured you had him so you wouldn't have to train me anymore, sensei.' Jiraiya didn't know what was pissing him off the most at that moment: his headache, Tsunade's lack of sexy sleeping gear, Orochimaru snooping on their stuff and trying to steal his star pupil or the fact said star pupil seemed to be convinced he would give her away just like that.

Actually… All of that pissed him off together, all at the same time.

'The hell does that bastard think he is…'

'Sensei?' He was pulled back at the reality by the voice of the twelve year old staring at him with a curious expression. How Orochimaru had found out didn't matter. This was a ninja community after all, it would have been odd if private things stayed private, but that he had tried to try to snatch his student without so much as asking was unforgivable.

Before all this mess had happened, he had been seriously considering introducing the genin to his familiars, something that he didn't think of lightly and hadn't done to all the students he'd taken off since he'd made jounin. Something about Minato's polite and strange nature just seemed like something Gamabunta would appreciate. He wasn't sure how the toad would react to making a contract with a girl, but…

'It's okay, sensei. I understand.'

'You understand what?' he growled, still pissed off about the idea of his old teammate trying to snatch what everyone knew was a damn good ninja on the making.

'That you don't want to train me.'

'Who said that?' he turned around to gape at the girl. Her answer was to slowly raise a slim eyebrow.

'You did, sensei.' When no answer save from jaw-slacked gaping came, she decided to specify 'Yesterday, at Tsunade-sensei's office.'

'I- you-… forget about that!'

'But you said-'

'I said forget about that!'

Silence.

'Listen…' he said once he managed to gather his wits and get fed up with the blonde staring at him as if he'd lost all his marbles. 'That… yesterday? I didn't mean that. I just meant that I never had a female student' he had the feeling his sensei only assigned him boys for some crazy reason. '- and I don't know how to treat them.'

'But why would I need you to treat me any different?' then genin asked with a frown. 'I did just fine when you treated me like everyone else.'

That… was a very good point, actually. Only he didn't think he could treat a woman like he treated a man…. But Minato didn't really look like one either, so…

'You are my student, brat. I don't want that slimy bastard to undo all that hard teaching I had to smack into your head.' And that was the end of the discussion. He turned around to go after the other two but was stopped by a sharp little tug on his shirt. Minato was staring up at him with wide, glimmering eyes and a tentative smile on her childish face.

'I… really?'

He stared down at the small hand clutching his sleeve. He didn't think he'd ever seen Minato touch other people by her own volitions. She barely let others touch her at all without flinching. Impulsively, he reached for the blonde hair and ruffled it harshly, making the already messy style end up even poofier and messier than before. The blonde made a surprised sound at the rough treatment, then stared up at him in confusion, a small blush on her cheeks as she reached to pat her hair down. Jiraiya smirked slightly.

'…you are not afraid of toads, are you?'

In the other side of campus, Daichi lied on the floor, dry and empty, without his consciousness intact. The pose he held to still his body firm didn't work so he decided just to lay flat and observe the sun through the small window that was shining up, up and above. He touched the unclean woman. Now he was unclean too. And so was the floor he lied on and the glove that touched his neck. Some time ago he heard the Third starting a fire and smelled the skin of an animal being burned. He grimaced. This day the Third wore ordinary gloves. But ordinary gloves of a Kazekage were gloves made of gold for a normal citizen. And once again, his debt toward the man grew. Parents would be so disappointed.

Finally, the sun settled down and vanished beside the horizon. Not a moment later when the last rays of sun vanished, the door had opened, revealing the ever so steely and hard figure of the Third. Daichi immediately got up from the floor.

'Master.' he muttered. The Third didn't move. The naked fingers of left hand remained bare on the wooden surface of the door.

'Your training.' he muttered in a quiet, harsh voice 'You missed it today.'

Daichi bowed down, not daring to speak. To miss a training for such a reason was outrageous scandal. The silence stretched.

'We will start with fifty laps around the grounds.' said the kazekage. Daichi lightly rose his head. The man's eyelids twitched lightly. 'Now.'

He didn't have to be told twice. He was cleansed from what he did by the night that came, but that didn't mean he was not in guilty. He observed the pale Moon rising as he made laps and tried to not think too hard about anything. Then he counted dots as he was made to do pushups and wrestling with the Kazekage himself. He counted to eight thousands when they started to fade away.

And it hurt. His muscles, his head, his body – it hurt. But nothing less compared to his heart. He almost fainted when he was let go from the last catch of the man's arms. This time the training was twice as rough as it had been.

'Good.' said the Third, not praising him, but barely acknowledging his presence. And yet, it felt just as good as if he did. Then he turned to watch the sky. The first rays of sun had slowly fell over the ground. 'That will be it for the missed training. Dismissed.'

Daichi nodded and then bowed, not moving an inch when the Kazekage hid himself in his own house. Three minutes later, his teammate came to the grounds.

'I know what you did.' she said. Of course she knew. She saw. Many times. 'I will not speak of it.'

He didn't move.

'Thank you.' he said and closed his eyes. 'Thank you.'

Two minutes later, the Third came back from his house, looking as mighty as ever. And the routine training began. He never had it that hard. But he couldn't say he didn't deserve it. So he trained. Trained, until he lost all of his sense. Nobody dragged him away to his room when he fell flat on the ground after the ended training. His teammates just never really cared that much about him. And kazekage was a kage. Nobody expected of him to do that.

When he got back to his room it was already midnight. But despite everything, he slept on the floor. He couldn't use his bed. It was to remain unclean for seven days. It didn't matter. He felt so tired he didn't notice the difference. And that was reassuring.

As for Minato, she didn't try to see him either. Often she'd go look for him, when she came back from her missions or simply to ask him for help in her training, but she didn't need to be told what that look had meant. Being her first time, her period lasted little over two days, going from what felt like an open faucet to almost nothing. In those days the whispering started to die down, largely because she dispelled them by herself by openly answering whenever someone asked her about it. What started then was a period of lewd jokes regarding the fact she liked boys a little too much, but it seemed the only ones who found them incendiary where her teammates and teacher. Minato herself paid them no mind, instead concentrating on her new training.

Her mother had never been a ninja and so he had never had ninja animals related to her. The fact that her sensei thought of her to share his own, the legendary Gamabunta… She had to be up for the challenge. If she did miss the time she had spent with the older boy, she didn't give herself time to actually stop and think about it, and if she by chance passed him coming back and forth from mission assignment, she just smiled, greeted him politely and immediately left. Jiraiya seemed to be the only one who noticed this new development in her relations with others, but the truth was that he just found it to be a relief. Sunanins might've been very picky about inter village relations, but they also had a tendency to like their women about Minato's age. The fact those two weren't sharing a bed anymore was nothing but good news as far as he was concerned.

It didn't look any better from Daichi's point of view. In that matter, it looked only worse. The strict training he was put under was to make him forget about everything – that he had to eat, that he had to sleep, that he had to live at all. After a few days of gossips spreading around and people finally realizing that he was one in the circles of the blonde's friends, the kazekage decided to take action and started to lead him under his supervisory eyes like a nanny. He walked him to his own room, he made him do his dressing up and washing near him, he came for him before training and observed him closely. The only time he was actually left alone, were meals.

And then he didn't do anything. He stared at his food, ate only a spoon or a bite and stared into the wall. When the blonde came in, the gaze of his started to grow in intensity, then it pierced the girl under it until it could. Once she landed her eyes on him, he turned his head away and didn't try to look in her direction again. He lost weight. His strength grew but it became more fragile with every passing day. And finally, it broke. One day when he stood up from his bed, his legs broke under him and left him in the weak state of illness. For the first time when he came to academy, he became sick.

There was no other excuse to not to train, but this one. The Third announced it clearly – he was forbidden to do anything but to get better. No training, no learning, just laying, eating and getting better. He agreed, like he always did and stayed in bed. And that was when things began spiraling down. He ate, but his body didn't digest what he ate. He closed his eyes at night but he didn't sleep. Slowly, he withered away. Nobody knew why. It was because they left him with his thoughts – they left him and his brain didn't let him ignore all the matter any longer.

So he thought. He thought about what he lost and what he was about to lose. He thought about his duties and about his future, but more about his past. He thought about academy – his friends and enemies, but mostly – about Minato.

And he knew that even despite cleansing, the power of her image had imprinted itself in his brain. He couldn't stop. He couldn't stop thinking about tender blueness of eyes that were just as the shiny sky on the cloudless day. He couldn't stop thinking about soft skin, the milk mixed with blood, peachy and delicate. He couldn't stop thinking about soft, unruly masses of blonde hair. And even eyelashes – those blonde tiny eyelashes that left delicate shadows on the cheeks couldn't get away from him. There were so many better girls, so many much more beautiful boys out there but he couldn't find any flaw in the girl. Even the pink mark after the pimple that usually was found as a hindrance on smooth skin of all Suna girls was something he couldn't find disgusting.

He couldn't help it. He missed the blonde. Missed the touch and the kisses, missed the free talks and the way they hugged each other in bed. Terribly. But she was a woman, a Konohan one and he could do nothing. Completely nothing. So he lied in bed and waited for fate. And he didn't fight. Maybe if he did know what would happen, he would. But he didn't. Soon, he was about to know the consequences of his actions.

If Minato noticed anything of this, she didn't give any sign of it. It would be odd to think she didn't, considering that very few things missed the girl, and even more considering she looked for him. Her eyes trailed over the mass of ninja from Suna and when they didn't find the tell-tale mass of rust she breathed and ate and acted as if nothing, but only after looking for him. Tetsuo had once questioned about the Suna boy and if she knew why they hadn't seen him for a couple days with his group.

She had smiled at him amiably and said she didn't know, and the Akimichi hadn't questioned her further, because unlike noisy and boisterous Kenta, he understood that if Minato had wanted to talk about it, she would have. He thought maybe they could talk about it sometime later, when the immature Uchiha wasn't jumping around them. But he never had a chance to do it. As it turned out, their next mission was their last one together.

How could things have gone so wrong so fast?

'Kenta?' What had happened? She didn't know. She didn't know what had happened because she hadn't been there. And now she didn't know where she was, and more importantly, didn't know where her sensei or her teammates were. Around her, the forest burned.

They had been supposed to guard those scrolls, they carried classified information from Kusa, one of the few villages that hadn't initially agreed to the pact, but they had been ambushed… The group from Ame had been dispatched, from what she could tell, and Jiraiya had gone after the leader that had retrieved the scroll.

Minato had followed after helping the last Rain ninja and making sure he wouldn't bleed to death, leaving her other two teammates behind. Not long after she'd nearly had a katana driven through her scull if it hadn't been because of her teacher pushing her out of the way in time. Jiraiya was fighting with the leader of the group, some mercenary from Rain that had recently been demoted from S-rank to A simply because he had been presumed to have retired after years of inactivity. Apparently some civil wars along the neighboring shinobi villages had been the thing to spur him into action.

The man had given the scroll to his teammates and stayed to make sure the toad sage wouldn't be behind them. Jiraiya had told her to go after the groups and retrieve the scroll, no matter what. And so she had. And now everything around her was covered in asphyxiating smoke and flying embers, and she had no idea how she had gotten there.

'Sensei…?'

But she had gotten back the scroll, hadn't she? She looked down at the piece of paper in her hand and gaped at it as if wondering how had it gotten there. What worried her more was that her usually white tracksuit was covered in blood up to the elbows, and the material clung to her skin with sticky precision, coagulating on both the article of clothing and her skin.

Her head hurt. It felt as if her brain was trying to beat its way out of her skull by force, and the smoke punishing her eyes didn't help matters at all. The blonde looked around confusedly, put the scrolls in the pouch strapped to her leg, leaving a bloody handprint on the white material and took the jacket off, discarding it. Took a step forward and nearly threw up as the world shifted to a less than real green focus and swayed violently to the left. She didn't feel when she fell to the side as much as realized the fact that she'd barely made a noise as she did. Carefully, ignoring the inferno around her, she looked around at the flames, reddened eyes taking in everything like a paralyzed animal would. She then extended her hands and brought them back together in a clap.

She heard it… But barely. Like if she'd been underwater. She wiped her hands in her pants, leaving at least the skin of her palms in view for a moment, and touched her ear. The right one came away soaked in blood.

'…'

She wasn't scared. She wasn't scared because she simply didn't get scared about things. Fear was just a thing that girls felt She was just… confused, yes. She was very confused because she was covered in blood and she barely could hear a thing and she was lost and she couldn't remember how any that had happened.

Most confusing. Not three feet away from her, a massive branch engulfed in flames cracked and fell down, covering her in embers she patted off her clothes half heartedly. She'd better get out of there. They had been marching next to the river… but now she couldn't hear the river, much less smell it, and there was no way she could recognize her surroundings, warped as they were. Objectively thinking, the best solution was to get out of the fire and see what she could figure out by herself afterwards. It seemed like a sound plan, and with a little difficulty, she started walking ahead, considering it was as good an option as any of the other's. _I've been here_, she thought almost dreamily_. I cut my hand on my way out._

She looked down, fully expecting to see her wounded hand with the embedded splinters on it, but her hand was still the same, partially protected by the plated gloves and still covered in blood.

'That was before.' she muttered, absently wiping at her eye. Everything was still incredibly fuzzy, but at last she was able to move better now, without knocking on the trees, at least… The heat beat at her skin like something alive, something that wanted to eat at her, and she walked in what she hoped was a straight line without hurrying or trying to run. If she ran, she'd eat the smoke, and that would make her faint, and then she'd be roasted alive. It just didn't seem like a very good idea.

She didn't know for how long she walked until she finally managed to get to a part of the forest where at least there was enough breathable air for her to start feeling more awake and less like in some sort of incredibly detailed nightmare of extremely confusing proportions. Her head still throbbed angrily, but now she could tell it was because she had been hit right over the ear- the skin had broken and that's why everything was so sticky there, and she thought that if she stopped and thought about it long enough, she could almost remember how had that happened, how he'd found the scroll back.

'..ato!'

Yeah, now that she was out of the fire she could afford sitting down a bit, right? The wind blew opposite direction, and she remembered Jiraiya-sensei caught in some sort of choke telling her to get that scroll back no matter what…

'Mi….to!' Eyes that gleamed like silver coins… 'Minato!'

'…uh?' She turned around, and found the short-haired brunet less than three feet away from her. She might just have walked past him without even noticing. The Akimichi was crouched next to what seemed to be a heap of smoking clothes, giving her a look that was both surprised, worried and angry at the same time.

'Min...o, are …u o…y?'

'…Yeah.'

Her sense of hearing came back and forth from muffled to nonexistent in waves that felt a little too closely related to the throbbing headache to be mere coincidence, but that seemed to be the right answer either way. She smiled and nodded for emphasis.

'I'm okay.' Her teammate stared at her with that exact same expression as before, so her reply mustn't have been very convincing. He made a desperate gesture to the thing next to him.

'…lp me!' Obediently, she walked next to him. On closer look, the heap of smoking clothes wasn't such. It was a small body with terrible burns that she could tell right away would be mortal if some medical attention wasn't had very soon. She touched her hands to the neck, feeling for the pulse. As soon as she did, the eyes snapped open. Red eyes.

'…Kenta?' The black dots swirled lazily in the otherwise blind eyes for a moment or two, then stilled and focused on her.

'Miiii…' Next to her, Tetsuo shook one of her shoulders roughly. 'The scroll?'

'I have it.' She was surprised her voice answered at all. All of the sudden, all that smoke felt like if it had clogged her throat. Next to her, the Uchiha choked on his own words.

'Trhhh…' She should be telling him to shut up. Shut up and save forces. Save liquids, save… something… He tried to lift a hand, and she caught it, trying to stop him, trying to tell him to stop, but she just felt too confused for her mouth to work all right. He tried to push it away, but she didn't let him.

'Don't be stupid…'

Her heart beat in her ears, in her lungs and didn't let her act right. Muffled, dampened… His eyes caught hers, furious, despite everything, and she just stared as he finally shook her hand off and formed a hand sign… Formed… She caught the kunai with her hand facing forward, and it actually tore through her skin until it got caught on the plate of her gloves, tearing a bright silver of pain down her arm, making blue eyes widen. Before she knew what she was doing she caught something on the floor, something as small and stupid as a stick and drove it through Tetsuo's squinted eye as far as she could push the short piece of wood. Her teammate howled and backed away, tripping on something and falling behind her, twitching and snarling incoherently. Everything rippled.

She stared at him emotionlessly for a moment then raised her hand, forming the seal her real teammate had tried to show her a moment before.

'Kai.' The forest rippled again, only this time it didn't go back to what it was. All of the sudden she could hear, see and smell again everything, her mouth opening as she suddenly started gasping for breath- she looked at the kunai caught in her shaking palm, stared at the body of the man with the silver eyes… the man who'd gotten the scroll!

She'd chased him and thought to have lost him, only to have another nin attack her from her blind spot, slamming her into a rock. She'd panicked and somehow managed to get a kunai between him and her, and the next thing she knew was that the man had exploded in a geyser of blood. So much of it she couldn't tell what she'd sliced, a mayor vein, considering how the liquid just flew around.

She might have stayed there gaping at the dying man if she hadn't been attacked by the silver-eyes man that slammed something on the side of her head pushed her down, steely hand gripping at her uncovered neck. She had realized she meant to break it as soon as he started applying pressure and had blindly groped for one of his own pockets for a kunai. She'd driven it on his side and disappeared as soon as she had the scroll, but not before he'd done that thing with his eyes, something as simple and stupid as a genjutsu, how could she had let herself be caught… She ripped the kunai of her hand with her teeth and caught it with her right one, waling to the twitching figure

The pointed stick twitched every time the man moved his jaw, erupting grotesquely from a ruined eye socket and the fingers covering it protectively.

'You-'

She didn't let him get further from that.


	6. Chapter 6

'Come on.'

That's what she said, as for how many time she'd said it, it would be hard to determine and she didn't want to think about it.

She'd tried to find Tetsuo, but there were no tracks of her teammate or any sign of him. She'd managed to drag the Uchiha not knowing if she should be moving him at all but knowing that if she didn't he'd die helplessly and either way they needed to get back to the river if they wanted to make it to the meeting point. Without the nin from Ame to guide them through the unknown territory and no maps, there was little else they could do. She'd left her teammate soaking in the water, thinking that maybe that would help with the burns he'd gotten and waited for either her sensei or Tetsuo to make it back. But as the night came and nothing happened, she'd been forced to get going.

She was half carrying the Uchiha on her back and half dragging him. He'd tried to help her during the first hour, but had tired easily. Now she was doing all of the effort but kept bothering him because she wanted him to listen to her.

'Come on…'

'r…we thr yet?'

'Not yet. Come on.'

'm tird.'

'I'm carrying you, so I'm more tired. Come on.'

'Hrts.'

'Come on.'

His sharingan hadn't faded. She didn't know what that meant. She didn't think she wanted to.

'Min…?' He was shaking. That's what she thought, at least. 'Mi…'

'…please don't call me that.'

#+#+#+#+#+#

Namikaze Minato made it to the meeting point two days later. Alone.

Soon enough the news spread through the grounds like a group of locust. All teachers immediately took care of the matter, silencing everyone, including the Third Kazekage who was especially harsh one everyone who dared to speak about the matter. But it was a ninja school. In ninja school no thing that was once discovered, could stay in secret.

So usually quiet Sunanins murmured at the table and passed cards to each other every few minutes.

'What do you say?... Alone?...' said Yashamaru while munching on dry bread, making his words almost impossible to be understood. 'Such luck, such luck… pass the salt, please.'

The salt was passed. Silence.

'No!... You're lying! The sharingan?...' shouted Yura, looking at the others. Nobody rose their eyes at him. The card was immediately taken away from his hands.

'Yes, that's the thing you need to make the infamous Mangekyou.' muttered one of the lower ranked kouhais. The silence fell.

'Pass the vinegar.' muttered Baki. The vinegar was passed. Baki frowned, but didn't say anything. A moment later it was passed to the neighbor. The other also grimaced.

'Such a pity. But that awaits us all, sooner or later.'

Silence. The only girl at the table shyly rose her eyes.

'Daichi?...' spoke Karura 'Don't you want another piece of bread?...'

She offered him the bread and the tiny piece of sealed paper. He looked at it and took the food, without touching the seal.

'Thanks.' he murmured, biting weakly at what he ate. He woke up with a high fever so he barely cared about anything that was happening around him. He noticed the blonde coming back from her mission but didn't listen to anyone at all nor he asked about how it went. His brain remained in the state of uncomfortable goo. And bread tasted of wood. He left the whole slice on the plate, barely bitten through twice.

'I'm full.' he said colorlessly and stood up from the table. He had no idea what was going on and nobody cared to inform him. Deaf to the world, Sabaku no Daichi went back to his room.

#+#+#+#+#+#

Minato had to spend over a week in the hospital, not because of the wounds she'd gotten (even the one through her hand had been treated by Tsunade herself, and the one in her head had been fine after some stitches) but because the girl, exhausted as she was, insisted they needed to go try find her teacher and missing teammate.

Kenta hadn't made it past the first day. Minato had buried him after removing the eyes, knowing the sharingan was one of the precious secret techniques belonging to Konoha and that she couldn't leave them for anyone who found the body to take. She'd brought them back with her, refusing to let herself be treated and much less deliver the scroll and the eyes she'd taken until Tsunade herself had appeared, after which the blonde decided it was a good time to faint.

There still were no signs from the Akimichi genin, her sensei or the surviving Ame chuunin, and Minato couldn't help wondering about the burns Kenta had had on his body when she'd found him. Kenta was dead.

That was something that her brain insisted on reminding her of because no matter how much she thought about it, nothing she did seemed to make it any more real. She remembered perfectly well when she'd had to put him down because he was hurting so much even she had been worried about it. She remembered him crying, trying to say something she was supposed to let his mother know but she couldn't quite make out, she remembered seeing him choke and waiting…. There was still dirt under her fingers from when she'd buried him.

She didn't know how to get it off, and the idea that he would never again try to pick a fight with her, never again get into the room without knocking, that she'd never have to endure one of his never ending speeches about how his family was the best and he'd become a policeman once he made jounin, just like his father and sister… Nothing made it real. Not even the bloody package that she'd given Tsunade.

Every day that passed and no one returned was another brick on the nice castle of unreality that she was building up, looked after like a prisoner by just about every sensei in the vicinity just because she'd tried to go find them on her own twice already. She told herself she might as well get used o the idea that she might never see her teacher or teammate ever again, but every time she tried to tell herself that it seemed like a bad joke, something striving very hard at being funny and not succeeding at all.

Finally, the group that had been dispatched to recover whatever survivors there were had returned. The toad sannin was with them, but he was in no situation to let them know what had happened. He'd suffered multiple fractures, including his head and ribs, which had punctured a lung. All in all he'd be in the ER for another three days, if not more.

Minato pretty much installed herself in the hospital after that, waiting outside as no one but the medics were allowed in, going away as soon as someone ordered her to then coming right back as soon as that person was out of sight. It was irrational and she hated irrational thoughts and irrational acting, but she wanted to see her teacher, despite the fact she also feared the idea of it. Maybe seeing him would make the fact that he was back and both of her teammates were gone more real…

The only things that seemed real were the soft throbbing of her healing wounds and the strangely alien feel of the standard black clothing ninja wore to signal mourning. That reminded her of when her sempai had last worn it when he had also lost one of his teammates. That reminded her of the fact she had worried about it, seeing the cocky, popular teen suddenly become silent and sullen, isolating himself. Remembered how she'd actively started pestering him for training for advice just for the sake of getting a raise out of him or doing anything to get him to move.

And she felt lonely. She wanted to see him, talk to him, ask him if this was how she was supposed to feel, this vague feeling of guilt and helplessness she wasn't sure how to deal with, this feeling she had failed to do something, that she could somehow had prevented this from happening if she'd been stronger, faster, more habile ninja. But she couldn't see the redhead anymore that she could see her teacher.

No one told her that, but it was as forbidden as getting into the ER.

A few more days passed. Daichi, who was left to fight with sickness on his own, refused to give up, and yet, refused to fight. That's why the sickness that was supposed to last from a day to three, started to last for dangerously long season. So much that for once, it drew attention of his teammate. And when he didn't react to her logical and perfectly collected speech to eat his syrup right after dinner, finally, the only relative who was not fifty thousand meters away, came and forced it down his throat.

Care of the Third was indeed hard to handle. But he welcomed it with every silent moment, every forced movement and every harsh push he had got just to take pills, sleep when needed and force the rest out of his body just in needed amount. After a few days, when he woke up, his body demanded food with need so strong he couldn't ignore it. The day after – he was ready to begin his training once again. It wasn't as hard as he usually got it, but with twenty more laps every two days, it quickly was back to the old routine. He ignored gossips.

He knew how his teammates looked at him, he knew that Konohan ninjas spoke behind his back. Like always. He didn't bother to listen. But when it came to Minato, it was a whole different matter. The worst of it was the fact that it was hard to get informations about the female ninja without being suspected of… something. So it took him some time to collect the information about the failure of the mission.

Uchiha Kenta was dead and Akimichi Tetsuo was missing. Probably long dead also. What a sour fate, to lose both of teammates on the way. It was probably hard on the blonde; he remembered losing Sagara, not before his very own eyes, but sounds were just as terrible as possible images. But then, Sagara died like a hero, protecting the informations he bore to the very last moment he could speak and those two were just mainly slaughtered in the forest that was cast on fire and had little to no chance to be protected against anyone since Jiraiya went missing along with the S-ranked retired ninja. He always knew that when it came to the real things, the fresh sage didn't do anything worthy.

It was painful to think what the blonde went through and once in awhile, when he passed the hospital room he tried peaking there, but the little bits of a sight he's got didn't provided anything helpful. The blonde either slept or just didn't move. And that wasn't saying anything at all. He wondered if he should have spoken to her after the funeral.

But that were the things men did. He didn't know how to approach the girl. Usually, after such heart wrecking things, females showed their true nature – they cried, they hid in their rooms, they wanted no company or company of females only. He didn't dare to break the circle. He looked into the sky. It was bright, shiny and cheery. So normal for the lands. Here, during the funeral, it never really rained. Sometimes, he found that depressing.

#+#+#+#+#+#

'I thought Tsunade had kicked you back to your dorm.'

'Sensei!' Jiraiya most definitely shouldn't have been up, not for at least another two days, and it showed. There didn't seem to be much of a difference between his skin tone, his hair and the bandages covering he burns on his chest and arms. The girl was immediately next to him, skidding to a stop just a few inches from making actual contact and looking up at the taller figure with bright, relieved eyes. Jiraiya couldn't help thinking that Kenta or Tetsuo, that any of his other students would have tried to hug him. Minato, as usual, seemed incapable of starting some sort of normal body contact, despite the fact he couldn't help but get the feeling she wanted to be touched.

'Hey brat. You look like hell.' he growled out, reaching with the hand that wasn't sporting the worst of the burns and carefully messed with her head. Most of the bandages she'd originally had had been removed or replaced with band aids, but the wound on the side of her head still needed to have the stitches removed in another couple days.

Her head had been washed once she'd made it to the hospital, but because of the fact she couldn't get the stitches really wet, she'd been barely washing it since and she'd had to do it with neutral soap as any sort of shampoo might cause irritation or allergies. Her hair wais soft, warm and slightly oily against his fingers. Between the black clothing she wore and her pale complexion, she looked like some sort of messed up monochromic picture where only the eyes had been given any sort of color.

'…I brought the scroll.'

'I know.' Get it back no matter what, he'd ordered her, and she had. She'd had her first kills and had to bury one of her teammates because of that.

A part of his brain, the part that seemed to be in charge of the mushy plots for his novels and his most dramatic artistic scenes told him this was his fault and that he was a bastard to demand something of someone this young. His logical brain told him they were at a war and even if they hadn't, such was the life of a shinobi. The missions they had been assigned had been a B ranked one, and the only reason they had even taken part on it was because there hadn't been enough jounin and chuunin available to send at the time and his team was –had been- one of the most advanced one on that age range.

Minato didn't try to move closer or away, simply remained still with her body slightly relaxed from the careful rubbing of her scalp neither seemed to be really aware he was still doing.

'I- I tried to bring Kenta back, sensei.' she blurted all of the sudden, still staring at him with those weird eyes of hers, too dark to be blue, too light to be black. 'I really did.'

'I know.' She'd gone rather far for an exhausted girl carrying an unresponsive teammate, even if the young Uchiha had hardly been any heavier than her. She'd been lucky not to be ambushed at any point on her way back, even though he'd taken the longer and safer route once she'd stopped having a real reason to hurry.

Silence.

'I'm sorry for what I did, too.' she said, some emphasis on the sentence showing that the lack of specifications hadn't been unintentional. 'I just thought that's what we were supposed to do… I thought his eyes would get back to normal once he fainted, but they didn't.'

'Sharingan is a bloodline limit triggered by trauma, Minato.' he said slowly, walking to one of the rows of hard vinyl chairs and sitting down on one, staring at the girl until she finally caught the gist and sat next to him. 'Even though he fainted, his body was still going through it because of the burns.'

'Ah-' And then she did something he had never seen her do before. She reached with a hand for her mouth and started biting at her nails. It took him a moment to realize that almost all of them on both hand were ragged and almost down to the quick. They hadn't been before the mission, and that was an amateur's show of weakness. And that, strangely enough, made him feel better.

Minato was a little too perfect at what she did sometimes, a little too collected and mechanical. The removal of the yes was something that he knew at her age he wouldn't have been able to even think at the time. Maybe Tsunade would have (but somehow he doubted it), and more than likely Orochimaru would have, but his reactions had always been cool and flawless. And this little show of humanity relieved him in some basic level that told him that the young girl didn't show it but still reacted like a human at such things.

He reached with his own hand and tried to take it from her mouth, but at the movement Minato's flew to her lap and clasped there.

'Don't bite your nails.' he said with a small, tired smirk. 'Hand are an artist's tools, and if you want to get better at seals, you'll need them.'

'Yes.' A little more color was nice. Minato wasn't by any means cute as girls her age should be and he still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact she wasn't a boy, but making her blush was rather enjoyable. With a tired sigh, he leaned his back against the wall.

The news on the loss of Kenta had been already dispatched on the same day they retrieved the boy and confirmed his identity. Tetsuo hadn't, simply because of the fact that, like the chuunin from Ame, there hadn't been a body to retrieve. He had managed to finish off his adversary and like always wondered if he should send the money to their families as some sort of compensation, but what did money mean to a family that had lost a son?

'Sensei…?'

'Brat.' he replied amiably, his eyes still closed. '…I want to go back to Konoha.'

He was only partially surprised, a lot of ninja dropped off after their first mission with tangible losses, after their first taste of what their life would be like from that point forward. More than a taste, the girl had had more than just a small mouthful, and she'd managed to go with it remarkably well for someone at an age most kids still were learning in the academy. It would be quite a loss for their village, because Minato had lots of potential, but if she wanted out, he wouldn't hold it against her. Most of him was even relieved she'd made that decision. He'd just have to make sure no one tried to brainwash her or force her to not go with it.

'That's fine,' he murmured tiredly. 'I'll go with you to let sensei know you'll be resigning your post.'

'But I don't want to resign,' the girl said, straightening and giving him a wide eyed look. He opened his eyes and gave her a quizzical look. 'I want to go back so I can take the exam.' she raised her hand again, remembered what she was doing and put it back on her lap. 'I want to make chuunin.'

He wished he could say he was surprised about this decision, but that would be a lie. The notion was just as shocking as his previous assumption that she wanted to quit had been- not much at all. In fact, this request seemed more natural than his initial understanding of the girl's words.

'Why?' he asked anyway 'It only gets harder from now on.'

'I know.'

She also knew chuunin had harder missions, harsher training and access to more advanced techniques. And if she'd had any of these at her disposal before, she wouldn't have been caught in a stupid genjutsu, and she might have been able to actually do something for a team that wasn't really her responsibility she couldn't shake the same and guilt of having failed them.

'I want to take the chuunin exam.' she said slowly, rubbing at one of her abused nails with a fingers 'Do you think I can do it?' He did. After this, he was sure she'd be able to. Even so…

'Why?'

'I want to make jounin before I'm fifteen.' And that was ridiculous. It was laughable and more than a little scary because he could tell she didn't just meant to do, but that she was willing to go to great lengths for it…

'Why?' his brows knit together. 'The paycheck is not worth what you'll have to do to earn it.'

'Because no one ever has so far.' Not any man, and of course, not any woman. She wanted to be the first and she wanted to make a point. Minato wasn't a feminist, she didn't want to make this a battle of the sexes. She wanted to show what she was capable of. 'Will you let me, sensei?'

Jiraiya didn't answer for a while, and Minato didn't press. She just stared until his hand went back to her hair and resumed the slow rubbing. After a while she relaxed against the chair and closed her eyes. Eventually, she leaned slightly against his side, making him wince. The painkillers were losing effect. He shouldn't have removed the IV.

'We'll leave as soon as that witch lets me get out of this stinking prison.' he thought she'd be asleep, but the girl nodded lightly.

Not far away a pair of pale grey eyes slowly closed and turned away. The Third kazekage sighed in relief. That was the best he could expect of the youngster to happen. He was particularly not interested in the youngster as he never placed any bets on the future of any kid as any of them could die any day, but as uninterested and objective he was, he couldn't help the feeling of danger when he saw that his protégé picked up his interest in the blonde. He saw such things happening before and he went through them himself so he wasn't very worried. But once the information that the blonde was not just a young naïve boy with Asperger syndrome, his alert toward the relationship grew.

Daichi was the first boy he thought that could somehow make it through to the kazekage title and first one he could allow actually to get there. His way to go was still long and hard but he could see the sparkle in him he couldn't in his previous protégés. For a female snot to ruin that talent was something highly dangerous and even if he decided to stay away from the matter as everyone bore his own mistakes in his own life, he couldn't help but feel need of vulturing around the pair. Just for observance. Maybe if it would get too far, he would actually dive down and make some harm.

Only in worst case scenario. But so far, the movie seemed to get better. With an unhearable sigh of relief he moved away from the wall and vanished in the cloud of iron sand. It was time for his daily incense session anyway.


	7. Chapter 7

Minato was ready the next day. She could have been just as ready in an hour, considering what little she had to pack and her lack of desire to spend time in the suddenly too spacious room she'd shared with her teammates for the past months. It was not the first room, tent or simple square meters she had in the last two years, but this one had been the last. She never thought she would miss Tetsuo's snoring, and technically, she didn't. She just wished she would hear it, because that would mean he was there. She briefly though about gathering what remained of his belongings, Kenta's having been sent home already with the eyes. Tetsuo's hadn't yet, but probably would be, not long after she left.

The fact they had to wait some time to declare him dead made her think of a yoghurt that no one wanted and that they were just waiting for the expiration date so they wouldn't feel bad about throwing it out. That thought was more than just morbid and unsettled her enough to make her want to leave. She didn't want to go to the hospital because Tsunade was angry (if at her for the idea of taking the exam, at Jiraiya for accepting, or simply at the fact her old teammate planned to get out of the hospital in three days whether she liked it or not, would be hard to tell and she had wisely decided not to stay around to find out) and she didn't want to be in her room.

She had already done the basic training she had been instructed to, had nothing new to read and people still treated her like some weird bug, so there wasn't much to do. Even before this, when she'd been almost what one could call popular among the other villages and her own, she'd always been distanced of other people and hadn't made any close relations besides her teammates or Daichi. Thinking about that made her realize she wouldn't see him again for a long time – months, if not years. Thinking about it was unsettling and as unrealistic as her teammates deaths seemed to be and she was soon biting at her nails again until the taste of blood made her realize what she was doing.

She frowned, staring down at her hands in displeasure. What a nasty habit. She didn't know where she had picked it and didn't think it to be useful in any sort of fashion, but she also didn't seem to be able to help it. She was doing it less than before now that she'd been called to it, but if she distracted herself enough, she'd start doing it again without even being aware of it.

She'd never liked doing things without consciously choosing to, and the fact that she did them at all made her feel uncomfortable. Like wanting to talk to Daichi. In the past days the idea seemed to have grown into some sort of obsession, but it just didn't seem like a right thing to do when the older boy was obviously making efforts not to so much cross eyes with her (though sometime she could swear she could feel him watching her…).

She didn't like it one bit. Much less the thought she'd have to leave without so much as saying goodbye. But she didn't want to see him if he didn't want to see her, and she didn't want to do something as stupid and probably annoying as writing him a note. The problem was the fact she also didn't want to leave without saying anything at all, because she owed a lot to the older boy, and it wasn't in her nature to be ungrateful without reason. She settled for something that seemed slightly cowardly yet fitting, as she couldn't think of anything better at the time.

'Kids from Suna rarely get to the hospital, Minato-chan.' The chuunin told her with a small, apologetic smile. 'They either don't treat their wounds at all or use their own medicaments.'

Ninja from the Sand and Rock seemed to go neck to neck in terms of stubbornness. Apparently going to the hospital for any reason besides needing immediate quarantine or needing to have limbs reattached was a mayor sign of weakness. Minato tried not to show the displeasure she still felt towards the additive to her name. Someday she'd have to get used to it.

'I know, but I'm sure he'll end up here, sooner or later, Megumi-san.' she said, smiling at the nurse. Daichi wasn't a coward and seemed to think he was made of steel. Sooner or later he'd need to get there with something hanging loose, broken or needing to have his organs put back together. The idea that any of this might mean he was agonizing didn't seem to pass the little blonde's mind.

'Could you please just tell him something from me when he does?' Minato wasn't pretty like girls were, but she was very pretty as small children were, with their wide eyes and innocent expressions. Everything in her body seemed to aid the illusion, and it was often hard to say no to her when she asked for things as nicely as she usually did. Megumi found it a little too hard to do.

'All right… what do you want me to tell him?'

'Oh…!' the blonde's smile widened, still looking faintly surprised – she seemed surprised the dark-haired nurse had agreed- 'That I'm very thankful for his guidance.' she said, wishing that for once she didn't sound so mechanical and formal, but unable to think of anything better. In fact, she didn't know what else to add, and she immediately reached with her hand up to start biting at her thumb. Megumi, seeing the state of her nails, frowned and went to a drawer and started rummaging through it until she found a small bottle of nail polish with pale amber colored liquid inside, offering it to the girl. Minato looked at her as if she'd offered her the head of a half-formed baby in a plate.

'What…?'

'Use this.'

'I don't want to paint my nails!' the girl cried, drawing back. How could she even think she'd have any interest in something so utterly girly?

'It's medicine, Minato.' The older girl told her slowly, a little surprised for what could have easily been described as an overreaction.

'Nail polish is medicine…?' the girl repeated incredulously, her tone clearly stating that that she might be as blond as they come, but she was far from stupid.

'This one is. It's bitter.' she offered the small bottle again. 'Whenever you start biting your nails it will taste so bitter you will eventually lose the reflex and stop biting them.'

The blonde seemed to process the idea, but I was after an extended period of time that she finally reached the bottle and pocketed it, and she didn't look like if she had wanted to do it at all. That was a strange reaction, but Megumi thought better to distract the girl.

'That you are very thankful, then, anything else?'

'Yes…' she thought long and hard on what else she wanted to say, but he sadly poor social skills and lack of contact with other people made her unable not as much of phrasing what she wanted as much as actually articulate them in her mind. She knew she wanted to say something good and nice, but not exactly what or how to do it. As usual, she ended up feeling frustrated.

'That I hope he achieves what he wants.' she finally said with a resigned sigh. She'd taken enough of the nurse's already busy schedule to impose on her any more. She caught herself before she could plead at the older girl to try to make it sound better. Megumi seemed a little amused by the words, but Minato thanked her and left before she could add anything about it. What a strange kid. It was even stranger to think she was a girl.

And occasion as strange as it was, appeared not much later from the declared. The mission that was in the middle of being done just when the blonde was in hospital declared the two of Sandaime Kazekage's team and his presence included. What was the worst – it happened to be in the land of Snow and not only that – in the season of the most dangerous avalanches. As careful as they were their enemy was not, and once the two girls from the land of Grass discovered their positions, the smoke bombs went up. That of course gave up their positions quite well and that left no room for getting away as the Kazekage spotted their presence. But as for the kids…

…they couldn't be as happy as they were supposed to be. Results? Major freezing of all of them, three broken fingers on the Kazekage's side, knocked out tooth and scattered hip bone in the girl's body and a completely steamrolled leg of Daichi, who had this bad luck of getting not only under masses of snow, but also having the old lost tree landing just upon his tight.

For once, Tsunade decided to call it lucky. Because if the injury wasn't so severe, the teen would probably try to lick it up alone. That would result in weak legs that would be unable to hold him straight, the cut out circulatory system and soon, removal of an leg. Career of a ninja did not hold up well after missing of a limb. So she treated the wound without much care for actual feelings of the ninjas, making the girl cry, the boy to munch on his pillow and even the mighty Kazekage to wince. Maybe if those dopes remembered for once that pain was not a thing to be proud of and to flicker of in loneliness, they would seek help in the nurse room more often.

'It would hurt only more if you would not show up here.' she repeated again and again as she operated the bones and mended them. The kids didn't react, thought the old-schooled Third just smiled at her pitifully. She was a woman and he knew better anyway, so probably it didn't get through his tight skull. Just for spits she accidentally (totally) bumped her hand over his just treated fingers. But this time it didn't take the slightest effect on the man even if she was sure he had to feel something. He was just trained too well. 'You can go, but kids are not supposed to train in the next month.'

He ignored her. She knew he would make them stand up from their beds when she wouldn't be able to see after two weeks.

'…and three weeks.' she added quickly. Maybe three weeks would be enough for bones to actually mend. But as the grey eyes held no recognition, she wasn't sure if that got to his mind at all. She huffed angrily. Men. They were all the same big stubborn kids.

'Take care of the rest.' she said to the youngest nurse on the department, rolling her eyes at the clumsiness of the girl. Shizune was surely too young to even start the nurse training, but she insisted so much she actually let her. The fact that only ignorant taunting of Orochimaru made her want to actually show him that even the nine years old girl was better at bandaging students than the twenty years old man. But maybe she was too quick with her judgment.

'Bandage his knee tight high and give some painkillers to the girl. His majesty can go and take a rest, the wounds don't need so much treatment like the rest.'

And with that, she went out, actually waiting for the man to be the first one to be gone. Just in case if he wanted to stay and actually command the kids to do some more pushups. Sunanins sometimes were just too unbearable.

'Yes!' The little girl said immediately, but as soon as the amber-eyed sennin was out of range, her mother took advantage of her eagerness and offered to show her 'how it was done', starting the work as Shizune stared eagerly. She was glad for the legendary Tsunade to take such an interest, but she was a little too hard on her daughter sometimes. The only patients worse than Sunanins were ninja from Rock. She didn't want her little girl permanently scarred and afraid of approaching a patient.

'Are you Sabaku no Daichi?' she asked, just to clarify. She still remembered what that cute little kid had asked of her not two days before leaving the grounds.

The saffron haired looked at her with sharp eyes through the a little too pale and still cold features. It was visible he didn't hold her presence in high values.

'And even if I am, so what?' he asked rudely. He was too tired to even think about politeness now.

Megumi raised her eyebrows. She knew what Sunanins were like, but even so, that didn't mean she would stand to be talked down just because this little brat thought himself superior just for having a chromosome missing a leg and being next in line for the throne of assholes of the sand.

'Nothing, Sabaku-sama.' she said demurely. 'Just another patient that asked me to give some words to a Sabaku no Daichi, should he come to the hospital.'

Daichi didn't answer. He had no idea about who could have done something like that as he made no enemies he wasn't able to crush in the first fight as any longer grudges were just too dangerous. Was it possible for that the family of those girls they fought on the latest mission to try to take revenge on them? But why him and why here? That was too impossible. Other than that he didn't expect anything else. In silence, he waited for the message.

The message didn't come. The dark-haired nurse seemed to be completely dedicated to showing her small daughter how she was supposed to bandage the young man up.

'Well?' he asked, rising one of the eyebrows, trying to make the woman tell what she said she was asked to be told 'What kind of message is it?'

'Oh, so you are Sabaku-sama.' the woman said with a beaming smile, as if she hadn't just forced the kid to ask her. 'The message is that Namikaze-san is very thankful for your help and that she hopes you get what you want.' she almost added a 'my lord' at the end of it, but maybe that'd be too openly tartly and she had better things to do than teach manners to idiotic Sunanins.

Daichi looked at her with completely unmoving face. Namikaze… what?...

'Huh?...' he asked almost breathlessly. He couldn't quite believe what he had just heard.

'That child asked me to deliver that message to Sabaku-sama before leaving. I think you are the only one in the grounds, so I assume that is you.'

Finishing the bandaging, she tightened the end and expertly tied the loose ends up.

Daichi frowned, his features darkening. The message he had got was completely not what he could have expected to hear out of such a person as Namikaze, not after what's happened between them. Surely, the whole matter shouldn't have been discovered nor hinted, but this message was just too… too dry. Even for such a person as Minato.

'Is that all?...' he asked, eyeing the nurse with suspicious glare. For some reason he felt she disliked him already. Not that he cared much about some stranger's opinion, but if that was supposed to mirror her inadequacy in retelling the whole message, he would rather not to play that way. 'She didn't tell anything else?...'

'I'm afraid she did not.' The woman seemed amused at the expression this chuunin had, and she gave him one of those perfectly maternalistic little smiles mothers seemed to perfect solely to let small kids know they were doing nothing short of simply entertaining the figure in authority with their brattyness. 'She did seem like if she wanted to, but… for such a prodigy, that girl doesn't seem to be too good with words.' She concentrating on rolling the roll of gauze that had been left in her hands 'Of course, that's understandable, after all she's gone through in the past weeks…'

Daichi looked at her, then lowered his down for a moment, biting on his lower lip. He couldn't have taken that from her, that was right. But he knew Minato longer than that and knew that if anything, she was either blunt as the sharp edge of knife or completely lost with words. But was it really possible for her to have so many problems… with talking…

'She never was.' he said in the end, laying back in the pillows, then looked at the window with closed up expression. No, it was too impossible that way…

It was impossible for her to act the way she did if she had never even… liked him back, right?... Every person could love… he was sure… he had to be sure of it. He closed his mouth he saw he was biting again. 'That must be probably it.'

And the message was a charade and he just had to look deeper into it. He smiled a bit sarcastically to himself, then snorted lightly.

'Women.' He added ironically, really aware that the two other females could hear him quite well. 'Vanitas, vanitum et omnia vanitas.'

It helped him to believe his theory a bit.

'God, yes, women.' the nurse sighed theatrically. 'They're all absolutely the same. Each and every one of them. Each and every time they hurt some poor, sensible male's pride they go from being unique to being just like any other.' She gave him the same maternal, pitying smile from before. She could tell him something about how much that pride and mindset would hurt him in the future, but why bother? Life would be all too happy to show him it for himself. 'Now if you excuse me, Sabaku-sama, I have another patient to treat. I'd advise you to take your pill just before you eat something.' With a small, polite bow, she stood from the chair she'd been using and took her daughter by the hand and took her to see the dark-haired girl holding the package of frozen ice to her swollen cheek.

Daichi shot her a rude glance and sneered at her words. Gods, some women were actually different – they were worse than others. And he didn't choose just any, he chose Minato and that made her more special than everyone else. Which meant she couldn't be the same. In some twisted way it all made sense to him. And besides that, he didn't want to say goodbye yet. But with that leg, he couldn't do much about it. She was probably already far away in that small land of leaves.

He grunted at the words, then took the pill in his mouth, swallowing it and eating a piece of onigiri, only to forget he had it on his plate. After a second bite, it was left to dry on the hospital's septic air. But why… why, if she loved him… at least a tiny bit like he adored her… why did she had to leave like that?... It hurt to even think what could she have meant with those words. His goals were not defined yet and all that was set in front of him was set there long before he even thought of making his own deals. He went along them because those were paths he was made to be going through and he was an obedient person.

He didn't want to achieve this alone. He wanted to make it with someone else. And what kind of joy could joy be if it couldn't be shared with someone you had your love forwarded?

Minato didn't think about love. Not because she was incapable of it or even for the lack of contact with other people during the key moments of emotional growth in a human. She didn't think about love because she knew all too well what love could do to a person and she worked very hard not to think of it or attach herself to anything or anyone.

Shinobi suffered losses often and easily, and even unconsciously, she wanted to avoid that. Avoid the pain of losing someone that might be important to her and avoid the hypothetical pain her own loss might cause anyone who as stupid enough to have any feelings for her. At the same time, she still felt lonely.

She didn't think of it in those terms as what she felt wasn't something she could easily identify… It was something that she was just used to. Loneliness - being alone - was a situation she had lived with several years of her life, a vague sort of lacking dissatisfaction in her life. Before being found by the Sandaime, Minato had spent almost five years of her life thinking herself the last human being in the world.

She knew that to be a stupid thing now, but the feeling that she was apart from everything remained, unexplained, as she was more often than not surrounded by people. The idea that she might be around people but not *with* them was probably too complex for a thought for the blonde, she just knew that sometimes she felt something important she didn't have and that caused her stress. To deal with it, she trained harder.

She had successfully passed the chuunin exam with hardly any sort of difficulty (even though there had been several unexpected problems regarding the fact she had lied to her superiors on regards of her sex and disciplinary measures were set, having had to wait over three months to be allowed to take it) and she was already preparing to take the one for jounin even though Jiraiya had made clear he had no intention of letting her go through it until some time had passed.

In Konoha Minato was admired and looked after as an example, but that didn't mean she managed to fill the chasm that was her social life. The village had decided to keep Minato in the area for as long as possible as the girl was quick, trusty and efficient, and she was often placed with the newly formed genin teams to help their sensei and up the success rate of the missions they had, and that constantly put her in contact with other children about her age, but that didn't help matters at all.

Some were simply intimidated by the rumors that followed her, but the main problem was Minato herself. She just didn't know how to treat people, had little to no interests besides training and she simply didn't understand the way kids her age thought and acted like. It wasn't as she was rude or snobby, but she was a difficult person to treat because she never seemed to know what to do or say and often fell quiet as other people filled in conversations, which made her seen either uninterested or unapproachable. It wasn't long before people stopped trying.

She was also often sent on missions with chuunin and jounin, and then the problem was the fact that she was simply too young to be treated seriously or form any sort of comradely with people who saw her more as a nuisance and a burden to the mission. The fact that she didn't look any older than she was didn't help at all.

At almost thirteen, save from a small growth spurt that had added maybe an inch to her, Minato still looked almost exactly the same as she had the previous year. Her period was still a sort of irregular factor that often didn't come and the so warned hormone-triggered changes her sensei had been warned about were taking their time to come. Save from stripping her completely naked, there was no way to safely determine the blonde's sex as a female.

That's why she often felt compelled to just grab a piece of paper and write to Daichi. Now that her teammates were permanently gone and her sensei was busy as she was taking missions for the village that she barely saw him a couple times a month he really was the last person she had some sort of close relationship with and sometime she was slightly disturbed by how badly she would have liked to hear him. She didn't think about kisses and hugs anymore the same way she didn't think about love – by conscious decision and heavy work of ignoring that kind of thing. If she couldn't have it, thinking about it was a waste of time, but that didn't change the fact she would really have liked to have some news on the only person she had left she could accurately call a friend.

She had even gone as far as to buy paper and tried to start a card, but not only had she been unable to think of what to say besides that she hoped he was all right, but not knowing if she might get an answer at all. Daichi probably already thought her a stupid little female, so show herself in such a stupid light didn't seemed like something slightly humiliating. And it took a lot for her to consider anything humiliating. In the end, she had done nothing but wait and resign herself to the idea she might as well never see him again in her life.

That's why when close to November, during a mission near the borders of River country her first reaction to seeing him was a smile.

'Sempai!'

She had just returned to the meeting point after successfully following a target to make sure they wouldn't be betrayed or have any hindrances on the way. She had just stopped in the city long enough to go to the local message building to get a messenger bird back to Konoha to request further instructions. Apparently the redhead was there for similar reasons because just as he finished paying for hers, the older boy had entered the building.

Daichi turned around slightly at the known tone and the known voice, surprised. He was not expecting anyone whom he knew and anyone whom he ever met to find him there as he was for the first time traveling alone and nonetheless, incognito. Anyone recognizing him in the place wouldn't be a very good sign to his hiding skills. And there he thought he was able to blemish with crowd completely. Scanning the grounds quickly he retreated into the thicker crowd before his eyes landed on Minato. That was the least he expected. Unknowingly, he stopped on his tracks, not blending with the crowd any further.

Minato?... What was Minato doing in the River country?... His heart clenched painfully. And that was only a few feet away from the final borders with Suna!... So close… she was so close… and yet, he hadn't hear a word from her. He felt betrayed. But nevertheless he kept his posture and looked at the closing blonde, without opening his mouth and keeping his face neutral.

'Do I know you?' he asked in a little changed voice. Since he started hitting puberty it started doing many strange things and he couldn't really speak with one tone, but he tried his best.

The blonde stopped where she was, still a few feet away from the redhead, the smile frozen in her lips as her eyes stared at the older teen in confusion. That… what? He… It took her a moment to react, a small, apologetic smile in place of the previous one.

'I'm sorry. I thought you were one of my classmate's brother, how embarrassing!'

How stupid… Daichi probably as on a mission, probably an important one… And she might have blown his cover. With a quick bow she quickly exited the building, leaving the taller teen behind. How bitter… The first time she saw him in almost a year and they couldn't talk? How unfair… She would have rather not seen him at all. Now she just felt… disappointed?

It wasn't fair… The discontented feeling hit her harder than ever, her chest tightening slightly, making her stop on her quick run, one hand holding her chest lightly. After a moment or two, she started walking more normally, looking around for something to pass time. She shouldn't have held any expectations… how amateurish of her.

A moment later a little piece of stone hit her on the head.

'What?' asked Daichi passing her like if she had accused him of something he didn't do when he had done just that. Then, without a word he turned to the closest bench. Running after the blonde to not look like if he was running after her was really a big task, especially as it seemed that she had trained her legs. Her speed seemed to be much faster than he remembered her in academy. He relaxed loosely, then turned to her slightly without moving his body. 'Is something wrong, boy?'

Minato blinked at the small pang when the piece of stone hit her, looking around incredulously. She hadn't felt any killing intent, what the hell, some little brat…? She stared at the older boy, one hand touching the back of her head and both eyebrows raised high. What…?

Daichi didn't move. What, was she waiting for invitation to sit in? Could it be possible for her to not recognize him? That was making him feel more and more crestfallen. Did she not want to talk with him once they were out of private grounds? Just when she should've talked to him!... He glanced at the seat near him, glad that he spotted no one observing them. His gestures were becoming more and more obvious for a stranger, especially as his too loose body started to jerk nervously where it was supposed to hang lowly with his legs. He was never good with those nonchalant poses on disguises lessons.

Carefully, the girl looked around in slight confusion, not spotting any sort of danger, which was the first thing she had imagined this thing to be… Just a warning that she wasn't safe. She spotted nothing, save of the redhead getting even more tense after each second that passed. Hesitantly, she took a couple steps closer. 'I can leave if you are busy.' she said quietly.

'Do I look busy to you?' said Daichi, tensing up almost to the point of anger as he finally turned his head to her. Then it meant he really was bad in pretending to be loose and relaxed in public. So much for trying. 'Sit down.' he hissed through his teeth in the most quiet and commanding tone. This really was nerves straining.

The girl obeyed immediately, the small smile that usually adorned her features back in place as she stared at the older boy. Apparently they weren't in danger.

Daichi looked at it with unease, then turned his head away, staring forward. Now, when he finally obtained the position he wanted, he was stuck with what to do next. Sure, there were so many things he wanted to ask about but then… so many things he couldn't even try to ask for. He tapped his foot on the ground, then looked around, not really carefully. This… that is…

'How is…' life without me going, your health, are you okay after being left out for so long, did you miss me, how were your exams, why didn't you send any letters, did something happen, did you met someone new, were they interesting, more interesting than me, did they like you, did you like them back, how is…'…stuff?'

Yup, almost what he wanted to say, packed in a whole nice multi-package. But that's thought that counts, right?

'Oh.' the girl's smile widened slightly, then looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. Then again, there were few things as uninteresting as two boys talking on a bench in the middle of a busy market day. 'I made chuunin.'

She had no idea what else to add, as she had been doing missions exclusively for her village in the past months and she couldn't exactly discuss such things with other villages, treaty or not. Her life outside of it was remarkably unentertaining. She ate, she slept, she trained.

And even so, she felt really happy about being next to the older boy right now. Enough to make her smile widen and add mischievously. '…I plan on making jounin before you do, too.'

Daichi cringed inwardly a bit at the implication. A girl becoming better than him so fast? That was completely unheard of. His hand twitched a little. But that didn't matter. No exams could match the survival match worth only the kazekage's strength. As far as he heard, the Third fought for seven days nonstop, until he had murdered all opposing him, without food or water, without a moment of sleep and came out of it only with two slashes across his chest. It was because one of his opponents was his father and he couldn't bring himself to kill him quickly enough. But that was a secret and Third told him that only because he trusted he would be able to pass the exam even better than he did.

'That's good.' he said, avoiding the congratulations he didn't think were worthy, especially if it was a girl showing off 'I trained.'

And that was enough information about what he did. Because beside he had depression, was sick for some time and suffered at nights when he had no letters, but that was not an information he would want to give to her. Not when she didn't seem to be longing for him at all. The girl looked a little disappointed at the lack of praise, but that was expected. Daichi simply had higher standards than other ninja. What bothered her was that she would have liked for him to growl something at her and then ruffle her head a bit. Maybe.

She opened her mouth to tell him that she'd also been training, that she had figured a new method and working on her speed to make for the lack of brute strength she had, but that would be giving away techniques and she couldn't do that right now. Maybe if she'd stayed in the academy…

'How are things at…?' she trailed off, not really opening mentioning the location.

'Fine.' said Daichi, ending the sentence after her, then shrugging it off lightly. That really was a big topic and he could talk about many things there, but he didn't want to. He finally moved his head toward the blonde, looking at her with not much, but just enough attention. 'It became more empty since you left.'

That comment, for no apparent reason, made her feel a bit of that comfortable warmth she remembered she usually felt when around the older teen.

'I don't really miss it.' she said in her usual blunt, sincere way. Because without her teammates there were few things she considered interesting about the academy, besides the opportunity of sparring with kids from other villages… And very few had wanted to after they found out her real sex. 'There wasn't much for me to do there after what happened. You are the only thing I do miss about that place, sempai.'

Daichi's eyes widened a bit at the statement, but beside that nothing showed that the sentence got through him in any way. After a moment of silence he moved his face forward, watching the street and people walking by, making the feel isolated and unseen by passerby and yet, completely open in the public. It was such an alien feeling for a ninja who always strived forward blending with the crowd. So she missed him, huh?... Strange statement coming from her… or maybe just about right because it was her and no one else. He frowned lightly, feeling the pang of hurt creeping into his heart in the shadows.

'Then why didn't you write?...' he asked almost too quietly, barely moving his mouth 'I could write back, you know I would. My summoning animals never fail at exchanging letters.'

That's what they were trained for after all. Desert hawks were known for having one of the highest ranks of successful missions in ninja world for the past fifteen years. Some blamed the fact that eagles stopped cooperating with humans but in Daichi's opinion they were just jealous.

The blonde stared at the older boy in surprise. Would he…? After the pains he'd taken not to cross her path the last times they'd actually seen each other? Instead of commenting on that, she decided to say the most basic of truths on that topic.

'I didn't think Kazekage-sama would have wanted me to. I didn't want to create a bad situation for you.' She knew how much the man's approval meant for Daichi, and he sure as hell wouldn't get it by mingling with a little no one like her. She shrugged. 'Besides, I didn't know what to write about. The only interesting things I do are related to missions, and they are from my village, so...' classified information.

Daichi cringed at that. Things from village?... Was she playing stupid with him, or?... That began to sound even more probable for him now. And he didn't like it. If they wanted to play the game of blind or blind and tag at the same time it would mean too much tearing at the wounds. He closed his eyes for a moment, then turned to the blonde, letting the comment about the Third slide unheard. He didn't want to remember about his harsh sensei when he was for the first time away from his protective steely wings.

'And even if only about your village.' he said, watching her intensively 'Even if only – why not? Do you doubt that I would read about it or is it too hard to avoid other topics like that?'

The blonde looked slightly taken back by the question.

'I don't do anything else.' She had her missions and when she wasn't doing that, she was training, usually alone, sometimes with sensei's help. When she wasn't doing that she was usually in the hospital getting healed because she had pulled or strained a new muscle -again- and when she wasn't doing that… She didn't do anything.

Daichi cringed more. Enough. He had enough of such a twit-a-talking like if they were just a pair of strangers who had never really talked with each other previously.

'Anything else? At all?' he said, turning fully toward the blonde, frowning this time more than it was deliberately obliged to look unsuspicious whole contacting the fellow friends 'And what about me? Don't you think about me? At all?'

'Of course I think about you.' The younger shinobi looked even more confused. She had no idea where all these accusations were coming from. 'I just told you I missed you.' How did you miss someone you didn't think about? 'I'm sorry I don't do much else.'

Hell, between mission and her new self imposed training she didn't remember having made more than fifty pages from her new book. And she'd had it for two months now. Daichi watched the blonde for a second in silence, his face growing even more outraged than before. How could she… say something like that so calmly? Did it really mean she didn't find him anything but a good friend? How could she not be affected by the relationship they had? No ninja was that good! Without hesitation he moved closer, practically hovering over the confused face. Was it a joke?... He couldn't believe it…

'Did you really?...' he asked, frowning and observing 'What was it? What did you think about me? I want to know!'

The blonde cringed back slightly, not really worried about the strange reaction the older nin was having as being surprised by it. And that without keeping in mind that in the past months she had again used to having people outside her immediate bubble, so the sudden too-close.

'I thought I would have liked you to be there so we could talk.' This is the closest thing to a conversation since her last mission to Ame. And that had been because they were undercover and it had been scripted. 'That I would have liked for you to touch me like before.'

The sound of slap was not loud as he didn't put much strength into it, but indeed, his hand stung after he did that. Gods, she should be thankful that he reminded her who she was.

'What does that slutty language is supposed to mean?' he hissed through his teeth, looking angrily at her 'Watch your mouth, woman!'

He glanced sideways at the passersby but as the attention dwindled out quickly he leaned down more, catching the blonde's face in not very gentle hold in his one hand to steer her attention at him. 'If you did…' he muttered with emotionless tone 'You could have written.'

He didn't believe her. In one bit.

Minato gaped. She initially didn't feel the force of the hit, just the heat of it, as her cheek suddenly blazed like if she'd stepped too close to a fire. She stared up at the angry face with wide, shocked eyes and said absolutely nothing for several seconds, not even drawing on breathe as her mind strived to put together what had just happened. This… wasn't a fight. Daichi had no reason to hit her. And what he'd said…? What… What did he think she was?

In a movement that looked slow solely for the fact her incredulous expression made it look that way she drew back a small fist. Then she punched the redhead on the nose, staining her gloves with blood. She drew back at the last second as not to break it, even though a large, suddenly snarling part of her had wanted to. She look around at the passerby's for a moment, knowing they were drawing attention, but unable to bring herself to care. Her eyes went back to the older boy.

'Sempai.' she said without stuttering, though her voice shook slightly. Her whole body shook slightly, and not necessarily out of fear. '…If you ever put a hand on me again, I will cut it off.'

She didn't say it as a threat, just sued the same exact tone of voice she would have used for commenting on what flavor of ice cream she would be having. The next moment she was up, staring at the redhead with the same emotionless face as before.

'Don't talk to me again.' With that she turned around and walked away. She'd have to remain here until she had further instructions from her village, but it was a big town. She didn't think she'd have to try too hard to avoid the redhead. Inside her pockets, her hands shook until she finally took them out and broke into a run.

Daichi didn't follow her. He sat at the ground, holding at his nose, guaffing blood and staring after the trace of the one who wounded him with surprised eyes. He had never expected something like that. Not his reflexes disappointing him. Not a woman laying a finger on him. Not h e r doing something… anything like that.

It seemed he was mistaken. That was outrageous. That was… unbelievable. What would people think about him at home?... When even now complete strangers stared at him like that…

'The Third will have my head.' he muttered to himself in disbelief. What did she… how could she… He felt his heart clenching painfully. He heard once that no woman was worth the trouble of any bigger sort than new sack of kunais. He believed that until today. But nobody mentioned that the heart reacted so badly toward losing a person. That was much worse than losing a new sack full of fresh kunais.

And now he was supposed to never talk to her again?... Why for?... Her brute reaction toward just a big pushing showed that she was no other than too sensitive to what other women took without complaining.

'Not worth my feelings.' he muttered to himself. 'That's what would Third say.' But he himself just wanted to cry. But since the mission was still on the roll, he couldn't sit and muse about that. Wordlessly, he got up and opened his first aid to find some kind of band aid to cover his nose with. So far he could breathe only when he opened his mouth. Leaving no words to people asking about his health, he vanished into the crowd quietly. Now he will never be able to like the River country again.


	8. Chapter 8

Minato stayed in town for just long enough to gather information that she was to return as soon as another Leafnin came to relieve her from her post, as she was about to be assigned a new mission, which was perfect by her. She spent the remaining days in the room she was occupying, working on a new set of seals she had been slaving over the past year and yet didn't feel like if she were any closer to completing. If she did, this new technique would make taking the enemy by the back not only possible, but a simple task. If she ever did, because while she had a general idea of what she wanted to do. She wasn't sure how to accomplish it yet.

That was entertaining enough for a couple hours, but the rest of the time she just wanted to go back where she'd left the redhead and beat him to bloody pulp. She was disturbed by how angry she felt over the whole matter, so angry sometimes her breath would pick up and she'd start pacing on the small room like a caged animal. It wasn't important, or so she told herself. She thought she'd gotten over these kind of feelings. She didn't like being angry, it wasn't a very productive state of mind for her. She didn't like that she had to stay in here to avoid seeing the older nin and that way keep herself from actually going through with her promise.

She was utterly relieved when the next chuunin came, and it was only after she'd left the town that she managed to get herself to feel a little more like herself and a little less like a rabid animal. But not much. She didn't like being mad, but it was better to stop and think about what she'd said. She didn't regret it, but she did regret that it had happened at all. Thinking about it and the fact she was again back to being completely alone, without as much as the memory of the friendship they'd had to at least fool herself it had ever been all right for her to be the way she was, was terrible.

It wasn't anything she wanted to think about, so she did what she always did. She trained.

#+#+#+#+#+#

Despite her sensei opposing to it, Minato took the exam for jounin at age fourteen and passed it with the highest success rate on all steps of it registered until the date. She became the youngest shinobi to pass the exam in all five villages.

In the academy, Daichi didn't waste his time also. Officially he didn't take any exam as he was never listed in any examination, but privately every two weeks the Third started pushing him through similar activities as would happen in exams in Suna. Every time he fought with his teammate and he lost he was obliged to be announced dead and the Third actually threw kunais at him to pierce through his head or his ribs right to the fatal point. Thanks to that, Daichi had almost died twice. But besides that, he gained only new scars and new kind of knowledge.

After a year, the Third finally let him fight with himself as seriously as he could. When two years later he had managed to punch him in the jaw, he knew that all effort was worth it. Even as in the payback almost all bones in his body were broken and he had to lay on the intensive care for three months.

'Because it got too much into your head and you stopped watching your back.' said Third to him once. Daichi nodded to that only, knowing it was only eighty percent true. The other fifteen were the anger the Third, who never once had his face scared, showed, and five percent…

Sometimes he wondered if the Third being so harsh didn't just come from his private liking of being a sadist. He never saw the man with anyone, was it a woman or a man of any age. The glint in the grey eyes that showed when he bandaged his wounds a bit too tightly was something he learned to wonder about but not to ask. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer in the end.

After that, he managed to punch the Third two times more. Once during a training, when he defended himself from the harsh payback – he was nineteen then. And second – when he reached the age of twenty one. This time it was the Third that ended up lying in the ground while he stood, bloody and sweaty, looking at the skies with a feeling of dizziness and disbelief.

'There's nothing more I can teach you.' said the man then and for the first and the last time granted him with a hug he never wanted or needed from him 'In two years, the exam for Kazekage will be held. Come then, we will see how much you managed to grow through two years I'm leaving to you now for your personal growth.'

Daichi only nodded to that in silence. When he finally regained his consciousness two days later, the Third and his teammate who lost all her fingers during the final test for a Suna jounin, left to his paternal homeland to heal their personal wounds. And he was left alone. Not soon and not very soon he learned that he was assigned to a new team with someone named 'Uzumaki Kushina', but he didn't care about that too much nor did he care to show up at the meeting up of his new team. The birds outside the window chirped quietly over the damp and humid heat of the strange weather of the country bordering with the academy.

'I am free.' He mused to himself, both giddy and happy and just as sad at the same time. He felt happy and joyful but so what, when in all this freedom he couldn't share his joy with anyone? At this very rare moment of complete lack of any duties he didn't smile to his own shadow at the wall. The face in the faint mirror of academy windows showed only a bitter expression that was supposed to stay with him for much longer than he expected. But he was not hurrying anywhere. A woman was not worth it. And captain could do to him whatever he liked. He didn't think there was anyone who could compete with him in the whole academy.

#+#+#+#+#+#

'Hey, Daichi.'

The young woman was picking at her nails with her kunai, and as usual, not bothering with any sort of honorific. Kushina was a wild berry-colored redhead that had come from the village of Whirlpool and been assigned to a team with Sabaku no Daichi shortly after being integrated. The basics of all teams was to try and balance the basic natural nature-based chakra of the users. With her water inclined chakra and Daichi's earth and wing inclined one, they should have been a perfectly balanced asset to any captain. Too bad no one had counted with the fact they would get along so awfully.

It wasn't exactly that they got along badly personally as much as the fact their personalities clashed too badly for them to reach any sort of agreement on how they should treat a mission. This ended with them usually fighting among themselves, refusing to work with each other or simply splitting up and doing whatever they wanted, with less than satisfactory results. Most of the problem probably stemmed for the fact that Daichi considered women inferior, Kushina considered Sunanins misogynistic retards and the fact neither took each other seriously at any point.

The pair never seemed to be able to reach a compromise, and the only time they would willingly work together on something was on systematically getting rid of the ninja they were assigned to be subordinates of during the missions. They'd gone through five captains in the past year, and they had actually made the last one request early retirement.

'We are gonna get a new one soon.'

Her sensei had let her know after giving her another ignored and reproachful speech regarding her performance and what would happen if she continued with her antics. The woman snorted lightly, twirling the kunai in one finger as her lips widened in a smile.

'I bet you fifty gold coins I can make this one cry before the first week.'

Daichi snorted at that under his nose, then moved his hand to retouch his headband he wore on his arm since it annoyed him on his forehead. Besides it looked kind of cool when you wore sleeveless shirt and just added something like that to completely plain clothing. Only when he had actually wear his coat it landed on the place when it was supposed to be.

'I won't bet a stone under my shoe that he will stay for that long.' he said, smiling at the grounds 'I'll make him retire until new moon. That's in three days in case you forgot.'

The woman raised both her eyebrows in an amused expression. Three days? So far their standing record was the assigned commander begging to be reassigned to another team six days in, paperwork needed for it included.

'What a bold statement… Are you so confident as to cover my tab on the ramen stand if you can't?'

Daichi didn't lose his smile, only rose his head in a confident move and glinted with his white teeth at her with his usual, bold posture he gained while being around the girl. Previously he was just a raw teenager who obediently followed and trained under Kazekage's eye until he fainted. Once he had to start fighting for his position, and with no one the less but a woman, his attitude had sharpened even more.

'I am.' he said with superior tone and looked at her with the pity he always gave to all female kind around him 'Because I, in contrary to you, know that our new captain is going to be a woman. Nothing's easier than kicking the weak.'

And, what was even worse for everyone around him, being around the woman who only played on his nerves also changed his belief toward women even more, making him lose all respect to womankind that didn't belong to Suna. Not having many examples of women who had enough courage to approach him, sadly, that only deepened with every passing day.

'A woman?' Kushina had initially felt insulted by the male chauvinistic mindset her teammate had attacked her with. With time, she had either grown accustomed to it or simply decided that the Third's had landed one too many this on that poor, rust-colored head of his and his brain was permanently damaged, upon which she had decided it was better to ignore him altogether. 'I thought most teams went guy-guy-girl.' she turned to give the taller man an affected smile. 'No wonder you want to get rid of this one so badly, poor Daichi… With so many women around you you might just turns straight, the horror.' Too bad she wasn't too good at the whole ignoring. 'I don't suppose you know her name, also?'

'They did, but apparently, we're famous for riding guys up to the wall and they're out of people who would want to work with us.' said Daichi, once again toying with his headband and untying the knot on it. Kushina really didn't know also the basic of natural savoir vivre as far as he knew. Normal woman should not speak when not asked around the man. He grew to accept that behavior finally, but sadly, only barely. He turned his eyes at her. 'Why, are you afraid I might sneak your steak, dyke? Don't worry, I'm not interested in anyone that might interest your poor taste. Unlike you, I have standards and someone to think about at nights and no, that's not my sensei.'

Then he looked up to watch the messenger hawk flying in the sky, free from work, playing with possible prey he was watching upon.

'I don't know her name and frankly, I don't think I should care.' he said with a shrug 'We will get rid of her quicker than you can count to three in Cantonese, so is it really worth remembering? I don't think so.'

'You are just jealous because I get more women than you,' the girl said, sticking her tongue out at him 'I'd like to say more men too, but it's hard to top a male Sunanin in that department~' Satisfied with her display of immaturity she leaned down from the tree bench she was had been leaning on, leaving her hanging upside down by her legs 'Just would like to know what village she's from, If I'm water and you are dirt and wind, she'd have to compliment us.'

'Unlike you, I don't whore myself around.' said Daichi, not really caring to face her as he had tied his headband on his other arm 'And I don't waste life-resources. But in such case that must be someone who knows how to use fire element. Do you think?...'

He snickered at the memory of angry red screaming face of woman who was brave enough to stick to them and apparently, they showed that even the most quiet and the sweetest angels could be turned into screeching banshees if they just had enough of good reasons to stay angry for long enough. Also the face of her boyfriend also looked funny when he started to pick up on him thinking, that if he had punched him a few times he might stop treating womankind the way life taught him to treat. The tear-filled bloody red eyes of Fugaku wetting the ground as he stood with his foot on his head were always bringing a smile to his lips. _Uchihas are stupid enough to try to take revenge no matter what._

'I'm not really sure about that, you aimed for the face…' she made a thoughtful noise. 'That either warrants the worst revenge or the biggest fear in such pretty-faced Konohans, don't you think?' Normally, she would have stepped in before her beloved teammate started pulling teeth, but like most ninja, Kushina was sick and tired of Uchihas prancing around like if they were God's gift to ninja kind just because they had a cool bloodline limit. It felt kind of nice to see someone who didn't have once wipe the floor with him. It'd be very interesting to see what a new Uchiha bent on revenge would be like.

'I think that Uchihas are not really part of Konoha.' said Daichi somewhat sourly and tied tightly the final knot over his headband. Then he turned around and vanished between the branches. Konoha was an itchy subject and he would rather not touch it around anyone. So when he could avoid it, he fled.

It was only days later that Kushina slammed her tray food in the by now rather more empty Suna table, as usual, completely oblivious to the dark looks she received from the rest of the populace. Considering she did this as often as she could, it was hard to believe she did.

'I think we finally broke them.' The rose-haired Kunoichi had a really weird expression on her face. Her temper was just as ignitable as her hair and unless she was un a mission she considered serious, she hardly cared for schooling her emotions into neutrality. Right now she looked disbelieving, amused and insulted, all at the same time. 'They gave us a baby.'

Daichi, used now to the temper of the flame-haired kunoichi didn't even rise his eyes from the greasy broth of goat soup covered with fat-free milk. The dry-plums juice near his hand had slowly evaporated with clouds of hot mist.

'The weaker the opponent looks the worst is his experience.' he reminded her calmly and swallowed another spoon, guzzling it down with the said juice, not even flinching at the mixed taste of heavy sweetness with salty soup. 'Do I really have to pinpoint you all ninja rules every time you find the enemy's summons cute or new captain harmless? Woman, please.' The last words were added with pitying tone and a snort that showed that if anything, she lost another ounce of respect she could have had in Daichi, if he really had any left.

'Daichi, I'm not kidding, she's like a baby. For real this time!' the female for once looked irritated at her teammate inability to take her seriously. 'She's younger than me, like, two or three years younger. Can people that age even take jounin exams?' she made a gesture with her hands, then used them to pick the chopsticks and dug on her ramen, devouring a hearty amount of its contents in pretty much the time it took the man across her to put his glass down.

'So! I was on the showers after morning training with my team; and then that Terumi-I-have-two-kekkei-genkai-so-I'm-made-of-awesome comes over and starts with something about the higher powers that be finally having have gotten a clue because they got us a captain that could finally be on the same mindset. And I'm thinking 'What, another redhead? I don't think the academy can survive that.' but then she went on all about us being so childish they had to specifically get a captain that matched us age-wise on our level of maturity- And I thought she was bluffing, but no!'

Another pause to stir at the broth lightly and consume a half-boiled egg.

'I went to speak with the guards at the gate and they told me that yes, a new jounin captain had arrived today, and when I asked them how old she was they wouldn't tell, but I went and asked the secretary on Tsuchikage's office and she told me that he knew for a fact that she was, listen this: sixteen. And she's not even sixteen-to-seventeen, for fucks sake, she's only made sixteen three months ago! I didn't make jounin to baby-sit ninja from other villages, Daichi, I have more than enough with you!'

Daichi stopped eating his soup at the moment the age was mentioned. Sixteen… that reminded him of another sixteen years old female he tried desperately not to remember. But these thoughts, like annoying stickers, just kept on holding onto him once he remembered them. He frowned lightly, then shrugged them off like a horde of annoying bats that clouded his vision. Then he resumed eating.

'If you want to give in into your maternity instincts, then go ahead.' he muttered around the spoon of milky broth. What was this yapping all about? The only problem would be if the woman came out as someone who is really too though to move from the seat. And if it was a baby jounin then the last thing to do about it was to get excited, at least from his point of view 'I'm just going to stick to my plan and kick the skirt over until she rolls in the mud and cries for higher instances to remove her from the stool. Thanks to you everyone is staring at us again. I think I lost my appetite.'

And with that, he stood from the chair and took the leftovers he was not going to eat anyway. The less people saw him with that rose-haired bimbo, the better it was for him. The gossips never hushed down and he already saw the kids drawing pictures of him and Kushina being secret lovers and heard exactly the same whispered by older teens. It seemed that beating the shit out of people hardly did anything for gossips that were already spread. He sighed. Only six hundredth twenty three days left until the Kazekage exam… not that much considering he spent much more in the academy already. Too bad that the sandy dunes still had to wait.

Kushina was perfectly aware of these rumors, and that was probably the reason she encouraged them. She knew everything in her was an open offense to Sunanins, from her loud personality to her manners to the way she carried herself. And what could piss off her beloved teammate more than such rumors?

'Are you ashamed of us, Daichi?' she cried as loudly as possible, then gave a bright smile to the other Sunanins on the table. Whomever the baby-jounin had to be, they had to get rid of her fast.

#+#+#+#+#+#

'Sabaku no Daichi and Uzumaki Kushina.'

'Yes.' the older man stared at the young girl in front of him without one ounce of amusement. What the hell did that youngster think he was doing? He asked in for a favor and Sarutobi sent him this, this… pre-teenish little woman to take on the most troublesome group they had faced in the past year? 'I understand you know at least one of them?'

The rumors about them having been more than friends had preceded even after the Kazekage's attempts.

'We used to train together, but we lost contact after I returned to Konoha.'

The girl didn't look up from both students' files. Nothing in her voice or posture betrayed anything but partial concentration on what she was reading.

'So I am to understand that the problem comes from him?'

The white-haired man tsked.

'The problem comes from that pretty-faced bastard back in Suna.' he said as he glared at the man's picture. The face in the picture could still be called beautiful if you ignored the innumerable dots from kunais and senbon needles points that marred it. 'His favorite pupil has decided he's too good for any sort of authority but that bastard's and the man encourages it by saying if we aren't fit to keep him under check it's our own fault for being weak.'

The girl nodded, still not looking up from the reports.

'And they have managed to make… Five people withdraw from being in charge of their group?'

'Withdraw is too big of a word.' said the young grey woman that's been almost invisible through files that were laying at the office 'It's understatement. Two of the people who were in charge simply can't be shinobis anymore… all because, as, let me rephrase…' The quiet moving of the papers could be heard, then clearing of the throat of the bright but not too loud voice tone.

'I was thinking he wouldn't really go that far and actually tear my arms off, I thought he held respect toward me as his teacher and that it was only a test of my courage…' and there's the other one… this one is from the Keiko, that kunoichi from Hidden Mist. As the report stated, she referred to him at first as a 'handsome young man' and then, after a path of many cruel jokes that included genjutsu of high sorts that made her feed on air and weakening her body by not giving nutrients, cutting off the hair, burning the main summoning fingers and almost suffocating to death with the sand clone... oh, there it is.'

The secretary once again stopped, clearing her throat as more papers were moved. Some of it fell on the floor but the woman didn't seem to be phased by it.

'He said that I was a whore, too low of a status and not good enough to even think about him in sexual categories and for looking at him in such abusive, pedophilic way he felt molested by me. I thought he was joking, but then he said something about right punishment for the crime and threw me into a hole which didn't exist there before. After three hours of holding the jutsu I never witnessed before I lost my consciousness. When I woke up, I realized that the darkness I saw before was not a result of genjutsu but the final product of sand beating against my eyes nonstop. I never thought I would have to resign from being a shinobi because my own student would make me blind…'

The secretary stopped once again, searching for another documents in the folder that was stamped with big letters as 'important' and held a sign of Suna and Whirlpool over it. 'Other cases are less intrusive, but contain major beating, strange jokes that left scars and the psychical abuse containing jokes, genjutsu made on the half of the academy where all of them saw the one of the retired having sex with his summons, the constant playing with reality to make one of the other almost loose his mind and non stop talking about poisons and slipping completely harmless herbs into one's food, resulting in him thinking he was poisoned and making his body go into state of shock in which it actually acted like if it was poisoned…'

The papers moved again, then the lady looked up at the young jounin in silence.

'The list of less harmful pranks are listed on the documents filling the rest of the folder.' she said, showing the notebook that seemed to be used quite often. 'The less serious it is the most possible it's Uzumaki Kushina's job than Sabaku no Daichi's. Some of them are troublesome to find out who really was the main culprit of giving the idea and who really made it in real life. All in all, great team in totally wrong purposes.'

'I see.' the blonde finally looked up, and gave the pair in front of her an angelic smile. The Tsuchikage could have sworn she hadn't heard a word about what his secretary had just told him and launch on a rant about rude youngsters who should know their place, but the girl interrupted before he could so much as open his mouth. 'Thank you Suzumebachi-san, this information has been most helpful… I wouldn't want to impose, but may I ask you for a couple favors on regards of it?'

The teen looked down at her hands for a moment, apparently placing in order the list of things going through her mind, then closed them and began enunciating.

'I would like to have copies of the reports on permanent physical damage that can be proven were made by Sabaku no Daichi. I will also need to speak to the teammates of the jounin that have left, as well as meet the ones that requested to be reassigned – the ones that remain within the grounds, that is. Their teammates will do, if not. '

She changed the folder she was holding, choosing the one with the Whirlpool kunoichi in it.

'Separated from that, I will need to have an individual list to all damages made to the grounds from each of these two and as much information on how it came to that situation. And… I see no one has kept updated the success rate of the missions…?'

The secretary didn't even blink at that.

'They took missions they found good enough for them and made them in usually good time. But most of them is made on their own as they left usually without their captains or made him lose on the path and the morality of their doings is highly questionable.' she said, picking up yet another list and holding it to her face 'They usually took A—ranked missions, refusing to take other ones. Sabaku no Daichi though, requests every free days for S-ranked one. Uzumaki Kushina seems to be fond of B-ranked and D-ranked missions in the meantime as it seems that she does them solely for the money purposes. The Suna genin at that refuses to take any interest in any lower missions than A-ranked ones, as well as exams as chuunin promoting ones. The Third Kazekage says that Suna would not let him enter one though even if he requested it. As he said…'

She moved the paper on the other side.

'Sabaku no Daichi is already far beyond the jounin level and he would not be allowed to take chuunin exams in fear of 98% possibility of massive murder made on other participants and only 41% of possibility of stopping him if he, by some reason, decided to murder other people. The possibility lowers to 3% if Kazekage would be away. Besides, it's a simple waste of time. Try searching for a good teacher, you lazy mother- oh, I'm sorry. The other part doesn't touch the matter of the topic.' With that she rose her eyes and laid the list on the top of other folders. 'Everything will be ready in two hours, unless you have any other wishes.'

'There is no hurry, as long as I get it before we have our first mission. Thank you very much for everything, Suzumebachi-san. That and the reports on the A and B ranked missions will be enough.' Minato made a small, polite gesture to the older woman, then turned back to stare at the older man, who was giving her a calculating look. 'I thought you already had the basic information when you accepted this mission, Namikaze-san?'

The blonde just gave another pleasant smile in return.

'Well Tsuchikage-sama… Sensei always taught me that no one should underestimate the power of accurate research. '

The old man just shook his head. He just hoped that pair of slaughter hounds left enough so he could fill a nicely done box he could send back to Konoha with a proper enough message. Something like 'I told you so.'


	9. Chapter 9

It was shortly after that same afternoon when both of the remaining integrants of Team Red were summoned to the mission's office to properly meet their new captain, along with the details of their next mission.

The least Sakumo had expected was to find one of his newest subordinates here, much less in charge of these two. Apparently, no one else who heard it seemed to do it, but they didn't know what Minato was capable of, if given an order - porcelain mask or not. Personally, he wouldn't mind seeing that pair trashed up. They hadn't hurt anyone from Konoha so far, but out of war and within living quarters, one ended up forming friendships with members of other villages. He hadn't liked one bit to see the lover of his best friend go blind because that spoilt brat of the Kazekage though he could get away with anything he did.

It was because of this that he had to fight no small amount of satisfaction when he had to introduce her.

'Sabaku, Uzumaki, meet your new captain, Nami-' that as far as he got, because the younger of the pair of redheads immediately pointed at the other female with wide eyes.

'…she really IS a baby!'

'I'm Namikaze Minato.' the blonde said, smiling as if the older female hadn't said a thing. 'I hope we get along well, Uzumaki-san, Sabaku-sama.'

In the past three years, the blonde had grown… in height, more than anything else. She wasn't particularly tall, just barely reached the 5'4 inches mark, but it was quite a change considering how short she'd been through her years as a genin.

Minato had also changed in that for once it was easy to distinguish her as a female. Her figure was hard to determine under the baggy and still rather masculine track suit she wore, but her features had rounded in a less androgynous appearance, with fuller lips and darker lashes. The wild mass of hair she'd had as a pre-teen was growing out and held up in a still short ponytail, wisps and stray locks of it escaping the binding in several places that she would occasionally push off her face. All in all, she now looked the part of her gender, but not a particularly eye-catching one. Even if she had had some sort of curves to aid to the image, she still could hardly be considered ninja material.

Daichi on the other hand, didn't utter a word. He just stood there with face as flexible as piece of stone and looked at the blonde like if Hatake announced they were going to be taught by the cacti with red ribbon on the top of spiky needles. After Kushina's outburst he had only tossed her a glance like if she had muttered a vague 'nice to meet you' and turned his eyes to the wall behind both of the people in front of him, like if there was nothing more interesting than spotless grey piece of paint over some concrete.

Kushina gave her teammate an odd look, then went back to staring at the insignificant girl in front of her. As a female from the east side of Water country, Kushina was tall for a woman, easily the same height that Daichi had, if not a couple centimeters more. As such, this girl that was more than a head shorter than her and looked barely old enough to pass chuunin exams didn't strike as anything short of a joke.

'Are you serious?'

'She is the one that had been assigned by the Tsuchikage at Hokage-sama's instance.' the silver-haired man said sedately. 'I'd say that's serious enough.'

'But she-'

'I'm sorry,' the younger girl interrupted. 'But I'm afraid I haven't finished unpacking yet and I'm in a bit of a hurry. Could we get the mission information, captain?'

Nodding wordlessly, he gave her the original draft, then the copies to the pair, the blond scanning them quickly.

'Wonderful. I will meet you both at the gates at 4 A.M.' She gave the pair a small wave, then a polite bow to the older man. 'See you.'

With that, she disappeared in a small puff of smoke. Kushina gave the A ranked mission an incredulous look, then the recently vacated space in front of her. Apparently it was serious. What a joke.

#+#+#+#+#+#

'Looking beautiful as ever, Tsunade-sama.' the younger blonde said as she deposited the tray with sweet pastries and steaming tea in front of the tired woman. She'd managed to convince Shizune to let her prepare some of it so she could bring it herself to the sennin, having met the dark haired nurse in a mission where she'd had to protect the genin and the cargo she carried. She noted that despite looking like if she hadn't slept in days, the woman still was a sight to behold. Jiraiya-sensei had told her she used her medical expertise to smooth out her features, but if that was the result…

'It's nice to see you well.'

'You too, Minato-chan.' said Tsunade, holding out the completely unhealthy donut on her tray and contemplating the new looks of the girl in front of her 'It's been awhile since you visited us. How have you been doing?'

Without a trace of guilty she bit into the pastry. In the end, he breasts were still too small and she had to have fat to enlarge them naturally. And what was more filled with calories than donuts? As far as she searched, she hadn't found anything beside butter. But eating butter would be too weird in front of the little girl.

Years had taught the girl to bear with suffix without so much as a blink, but she still disliked it as much as the same day.

'I've been working,' she said, looking around the small office in interest. If she wasn't mistaken, there were at least three times the same amount of bottles there had been just three years ago. 'Hokage-sama sends his regards and hopes you can visit sometime soon.'

She eyed the state of the older woman, the piles of medical files that had been showed to the side so the tea tray could fit, then said in her usual blunt way.

'You look like if you could use some vacations.'

'You think?' said Tsunade not even trying to look decent as she licked her red painted fingers off the sugar 'Too bad, my superiors don't think the same way you do. If they would I wouldn't have to fight with them and I could rest.'

After that, she took a sip of her normal green tea and looked at the blonde yet again.

'Hopefully not overworking yourself?' she added, eyeing the new haircut 'That wouldn't do you any good, you have to take care of your health.'

Minato thought about how much money in the last year alone she'd spent with pulled muscles, sprains and general muscle damage in her lower body, solely from her training.

'I've been doing all right.' she said as she continued staring around curiously, finally turning to the woman when she'd stopped at her back. 'I've come under Hokage-sama's request to direct the missions of Team Red.'

She waited to see if there would be any input on that regard. Tsunade looked at her for a moment, then she finally left her tea on a tray and smiled at her sardonically.

'Should I write you a paper now or later? You're too small to live a life of handicapped ninja.'

'That's what I came here to talk about, actually.' the girl said brightly, her hands going to the woman's stiff shoulders and pressing lightly with her thumbs, starting to massage gently. 'I understand you covered several medical emergencies with all of the previous ones, including the final ones for Yoshio Aoki and Reiko Suzuki.'

'Mmm, yes, I did, they were quite a big thing to hold…' said the older blonde, visibly relaxing under the youngster's hold. Oh, that was what she needed. Exactly the thing no one gave her since she became the one in charge in the place 'Is something you'd want to know about them?... I just warn you that I don't give out the things that are held secretive, no matter what you do.'

'Not even for a good cause, Tsunade-sama?' the younger female smiled lightly at the way the woman relaxed under her fingers, continuing the massage. 'Everything has its price… and I'm willing to pay nicely for a couple papers letting me know how many inside the academy ended up here because of either Uzumaki Kushina or Sabaku no Daichi, non-training or mission related. And what exactly did you need to do to each.'

'Oooh, that's a big price indeed…' said Tsunade, frowning a little. This didn't sound very good in her own ears 'Some of them are widely known so I can give you them for free, but some others…'

She started counting them in thoughts, but there were just too many. Actually, she wondered if there were any people in academy left who didn't get hurt or at least pushed around by the dangerous trio.

'…there are people who paid me a lot to hold that in secret as there's no bigger shame to some that to be beaten by someone without having an official match. You know the academy, Minato-chan.' she said, not opening her eyes 'But if you know this new brand of sake they sell as one of the brands to be given at kage's meetings…'

'… Kame no O?'

Minato didn't drink, but she'd spent enough time around her sensei to know what some of the good things were. Even if Jiraiya only drunk the expensive stuff when he could mooch out of someone. And that WAS an expensive sake. At $700 for a 720 ml bottle, it was practically impossible to pay for anyone below ANBU level. She didn't answer right away, mentally calculating if she'd be able to afford it considering that, as usual, she was in reds with her bills.

'…if I were to get that sake….' she said carefully, her hands slowly moving up to the amber-haired woman's neck to work off the tension in the area. '…would you be willing to also put on a few words? As a professional, of course.'

Tsunade smiled at the words. That kid surely knew how to make her talks through, but this was not the occasion to do that. In the end, they played with someone's trust after all.

'No, Minato-chan.' she said curtly 'Everything you said already has only that big price, but if you want anything extra I think I'll have to ask you to leave my room.'

The message was clear: take it or leave it.

'And if I throw in a little extra…?' The girl removed one of her hands to take out a paper in where she'd already started scribbling a few things. 'I get what I need and maybe you get a few things you've been needing for a while…' she slipped the paper in front of the sennin then resumed her position as she continued the massage.

Tsunade scanned over the paper quickly, seeing the things she hadn't had ability to get from quite awhile.

'Maybe.' she muttered, eyeing the list a little surprised. How was the blonde planning on getting hold on these?... But nevertheless, they seemed to be very, very tempting… 'Maybe yes…'

'Think about it, will you, Tsunade-hime?' the blonde said sweetly as she finished by giving a small backrub to the shoulders and picked back the paper she'd just left. 'I still need to run some errands, but I will probably come back soon for the information you feel like sharing. Please enjoy your tea.'

She disappeared in a puff of smoke, only to reappear again at the main office of the Tsuchikage to withdraw the papers she'd been promised. So late already and still so much to do? She was going to be fair though. Everyone deserved a chance, and those two would get exactly three of them, no more, no less. This was just the initial plan she'd started cooking up as soon as she realized that in her absence whatever was left of that boy she had admired so had disappeared and worse yet, the idiot that was left had a sidekick just as willing to turn in the mayhem. So they would have a chance to learn from their mistakes and repent, upon which she'd discard the plan and forget about it. But internally, she hoped they didn't. Regardless of the price and the problems such a thing might arise… Minato sometimes really liked being mean.

Tsunade smiled at the empty space and took the cup of tea to enjoy it, indeed. Because if the girl knew what she was doing, then maybe even if she would have to mend all of her bones, at least the things she would gain for that were worth the prize. She sighed into the cup. Sometimes, handling over someone's trust came just too easily to her. She would have to change that.

…later.

#+#+#+#+#+#

Sabaku no Daichi slowly got up from his bed. The clock was showing three A.M. The incredibly empty room with incredibly loud clock never seemed to be more surreal than now. The cold tiles felt like a shock to his bed warmed feet.

Who would have thought he would meet Minato again. Who would? Apparently, not himself. He admitted that for once he forgot, he tried to forget about her but now as she just simply showed up at his doors…

Daichi closed his eyes.

And she was beautiful. Maybe he had completely twisted sense of beauty, but he couldn't help but like what he saw. With a heavy grind of his jaw, he got up, washed himself and wore one of his everyday clothes. Five to four A.M. he opened the window and jumped out into the grey scale of the upcoming morning.

Screw the A rank. He had to clear his head. Wordlessly, he moved toward the darkened sight of the cold streams where usually young girls bathed if it was hot enough for that. At the grayish morning the water was surely cold enough to have a brute shock even after harsh training in the cold countries.

At the same hour, Kushina was still in bed, looking at her clock and trying to decide if she wanted to go to that mission or not. In one hand, that day it would be the day they did salty ramen and she could have about three bowls of that without so much as breathing. In the other hand, she really wanted to go meet that cutesy midget that the supreme forces of the universe seemed to think was able to put an end to their reign of terror.

She'd been asking around and had been finding out the juiciest of gossips regarding the blonde, who apparently had been there since she was a genin. That Konoha was as crazy as it sounded because they had let her come two years before than usual and the juiii-i-i-i-iciest part came from the fact she seemed to have been very close to her redhead of a teammate back then. The extent of said closeness would have to be determined by the people who were close to him, and unfortunately Sunanins were as tight-lipped as ever. But she had *known* something was up the moment Daichi had just looked away. He never did that kind of thing.

Speaking of Daichi, she didn't know if he'd be going. It was an A rank mission – retrieve hostages as wholly as possible and get rid of the kidnappers - so there were good possibilities for him to go, and even better for her as she'd just have to stand back and let him do the job and get her nice, fully paycheck at the end of the mission, but if he wasn't going then she was going to have to do all dirty work. She should have asked him about it, but between one thing and another had forgotten and the bastard had pretended not to be in his room, and considering she didn't know what kind of traps were inside, she decided not to try to force her way in.

*IF* she decided to go – and what a big if that was - she might get to know the blonde midget better, and maybe find out some new method of torment for the older teen. Plus the paycheck. Besides, they could buy salty ramen on the way, couldn't they? Still, she decided to make the blonde wait an hour and a half before making her way to the gates, just for her to start getting an idea of whom she was dealing with. She had meant to do it for longer than that, but she had been unable to get back to sleep as time passed by and no one came to her room to try and kick her out of the bed, not even her sensei, who the captains were the first to complain to.

So an hour and a half was all she managed to before going to the gates, where she found herself to be alone, save from the two nins from Rock who seemed to be too busy looking the perimeters to so much as look at her. Blondie had slept in…? What a disgrace, what kind of captain slept over two hours before her own time?

Kushina waited twenty minutes, just to be sure she wasn't going to show up again, then put her backpack again in place and was about to go complain to her sensei about the shameful behavior of the new captain – for a change- when she was stopped by a low, gritty voice.

'I'd start running if I were you, Uzumaki.' For a moment she looked between each of the identically impassive ninja on each side of the gate, without having an idea which one had spoken.

'…Why so?' her hands went to her hips. 'She's the one who's late, later than me, even.'

She was about to continue with some sassy comment, but was interrupted by the shorter male on the right, the one with the crisscrossed scars on his biceps.

'Your superior left almost two hours ago, and she was going pretty fast.' He wasn't even looking at her, but the taller one in the left smirked at her as the other continued. 'I'd say it would be a good idea for you to get in high gear if you plan on catching up before the next new moon.'

'…huh?'

'You were scheduled to leave two hours ago.' the one with the yellow eyes said, his voice surprisingly smooth for someone from his village. 'That's the hour your captain left.'

'So I'd hurry if you plan on catching up.'

He almost added the blonde had smiled rather happily at being informed no one was there and ready to go. In a way that had, for some reason, sent chills down his spine… but then thought a surprised expression suited very nicely this redhead. In fact, it made him wonder what an horrified one would look like. Kushina stared at the pair for a moment, then at the path, trying to decide what to do.

'Uh… did short, red and mean leave?' she asked, hurriedly stuffing a hand down her backpack and trying to locate the map.

'Sabaku hasn't been around here since his last mission.'

Well, at least they hadn't left her behind… which was kind of weird. What kind of mission did shortie expect to have with just herself? There were over thirty mercenaries already identified and ordered to get rid of, two of them ex-jounin. One couldn't do that kind of mission on their own. She was probably trying to do the reverse-psychology on them. Yeah, that had to be it.

Picking up back her things, Kushina adjusted everything and broke into a run without any sort of farewell to the guards, not that they needed any. As soon as she was out of range, twenty ryuu were passed from one of the dark hands to the other. The bets on if the Namikaze girl could take on Uzumaki on her own had started.

In the meantime, Daichi didn't even take the slightest interest in his mission. He came back at evening and ate his portion of meal, surprisingly wet for a Suna shinobi. The others tried to pry the details off him as they noticed the comeback of the blonde, but that only ended in Baki being pushed off the stool and Karura being slapped on the cheek. Nobody dared to talk about it to him after that. The redhead didn't want to talk about it with anyone. He was ready to do many things, but this?... Even after day of spending his own self in the cold waters of the academy's river and then heating up in the sauna to strengthen his body even as he was not training, no clear solution came to his mind. And that was bad.

He tried to search for Kushina to beat out his frustration against her as she was the only person who didn't freeze in fear on his sight and actually fought back, but he didn't find her. Probably went for her mission alone. Good. She always yapped how she could handle all her missions without him getting tangled under her feet, so now she could try to do it alone. He was not going to tend her wounds after that.

In the end, he ended up in his room, writing an impossibly long letter to Suna, in which he told about everything to Third in the slightest detail, sparring any subjective thoughts then spent the night on the training grounds. When the team was not back at the morning, he simply joined the B ranked mission of the twins in which they simply couldn't get through with everything and kept on correcting them until Yashamaru had actually started bickering with him that he could as well go away if he was going to just sit and criticize. After a fight that was stopped at the Karura actually crying over the mission going to shreds and her brother being beaten up for nothing, Daichi had finally decided to cooperate and once in awhile actually get along with his people.

That ended up in him sitting in silence near the Suna table where others congratulated the twins their successful mission and ignoring him completely as they still remembered the redhead's yesterdaish behavior. That resulted in even more sour mood and a big hangover in the morning, which made him impossible to remember how and who tucked him to his own bed once he lost his logical sense. Then he spent another day on training and passing his time on shouting at the male twin to actually start levitating his kunais and not drag them around three millimeters above the earth.

So it simply was a waste of time. A waste in which his anger toward the reckless captain and innocent but also missing – so in co-guilty – Uzumaki grew. He hated being ignored. Especially when attention was not only his given but his objective he was supposed to have from his leader. As he destroyed yet another dummy doll that was used for training the punches and was supposed to last for two years – and lasted only for nineteen days around him this time – he swore that the past… the past didn't matter. If she was going to play that way he also should've pick up the game and ignore the howling that his heart made at every pang he felt. If she wanted to pretend that there was nothing between them – it was fine. More than fine. Perfectly, utterly fine with him!

His leg went through the second dummy doll and he cursed. He hated when splinters made it through his clothes and actually got into his flesh. This night, instead of sleeping, he sat on his bed and, while smoking incense, he pulled splinters out of his leg, one at a time. When he finally pulled the last one, the grey morning greeted him with nightmarish dropping of the rain at the windows.

Such a waste of the water. It always made his insides churn as he remembered people dying on the streets because they couldn't buy enough water and here people just let it melt with dirt and flow away…

With an angry snort directed at himself, he threw the rest of incense out of the window to not waste the water in his tap and covered himself with covers. If they were going to be missing he could as well rest. After such a night, he deserved it as well as they didn't.

Simple as that.


	10. Chapter 10

The pair returned just shy of seven days later around mid morning, but they were lost pretty soon afterwards. Neither had any sort of wounds that would even warrant so much as passing through the hospital to say 'hi', and Minato had been quickly lost in the debriefing room while Kushina, who only had a vague smudge of powder to account for battle wounds, was quick to locate her missing teammate barely after she stepped out of the shower.

'Hey.' She didn't look exactly surprised about the poor state of the training fields or what he was doing to the poor, undeserving dummy. In fact, she didn't look anything but slightly perturbed. The rose haired woman was distinctly quiet for several seconds. '…is there anything you want to tell me about short, blonde and psychotic?'

'No.' said Daichi in actually ignorant tone as he worked his fists against the marionette that for some strange reason, still stood straight, though not very recognizable stance. As it seemed, the word counted both as an answer and greeting at the same time.

'...because I asked.' Kushina continued, not really changing her expression. This time Daichi didn't even grate her with his glance. Almost like if she didn't say anything.

'And she told me about you.' the woman continued in the same tone, as if she'd gotten some sort of encouraging answer.

The fist landed on the doll with a strong punch, making the loose head fall off and twirl on the ground with quiet knock. The redhead in a moment froze in the pose, then slowly got back to the straight position, only to start wiping his hands that seemed to be roughened at against the wooden surface.

'She did?' he said finally, slightly out of breath.

'Ahuh.' She'd let her hair loose after the shower to get it to dry, and the darkened red length of it looked the color of a ripe cherry. She twirled some of it on a finger. Daichi turned his head toward her, a sour frown making his face looking twice as bitter as usual.

'What did she tell you?' he asked, feeling that against all he thought and promised to himself during the past days and nights his heart decided to betray him once again and speeded up, hungry for kind words and any, completely any sign of possibility that she might have actually regretted what she had done and missed him during the years at least half as much as he missed her. He didn't let it show though.

'That you were a dick to her and that's why she dumped your sorry ass.' she answered without looking up and still inspecting the ends of her hair. Very carefully she started preparing her muscles for sprinting to safe ground in case Daichi decided to do something… drastic. To her person, specifically.

'I told her not to expect too much from some guy from a village that still believes that women need to be bought, but at least she found better in Konoha?' she blinked thoughtfully. 'And so innocent she looked; I mean... wow, appearances do deceive…'

Daichi tsked at that, then snorted and turned back to the beheaded doll to start executing another round of steady strong punches, not trying to even pretend he cared about the wood he destroyed. Well, what could he expect. Women always blamed men for everything and turned them into some kind of monsters while they were no better. He was stupid for thinking that Minato could have been different than others. Still, it hurt. Even as his knuckles started hurting as his effort against the harmless dummy grew, it did little to the litany of bawling his heart made.

'Get lost, witch.' he muttered, not paying any attention to Kushina 'I'm sick of your man-boobs showing around.'

'You should be more thankful for me to come pick you up so we can gets paid for our relentless efforts, you know?' she gave his back a mock sneer as she straightened back up and ran her hands down her hair. It was high time they went too, regardless of if they went into the mission or not, their names appeared as listed for the mission and their captains were usually too busy, too tired or too cowed into to complain about it. '…Daaaichi~' she purred at him, batting her eyes flirtatiously as she took several careful steps away from the other.

The other finally dropped his training and looked at the girl like if she was the most annoying fly on the whole world who decided just to annoy the rest of his anger out of him. He wanted to be left alone, stupid wench.

But he also needed the money. So he couldn't just drop it. With one move he grabbed his towel and went toward the redhead, pushing her on the arm hard enough to let her land in the dirt with her freshly washed hair. That would be a fair payback for what she said. For everything he went through with the blonde he didn't really need to hear that from someone who liked to see him suffer when he had to pretend he did not. He looked back at her while he continued walking.

'If I'll want to take it from you I'll do it and you won't even have a say in this.' he muttered 'So you can stop asking for it, you're wasting your time.'

Kushina gaped at him, staring in horror at her hair. Did that idiot know how long did it take for it to dry on its own? Now she'd have to wash it again!

'Oh God, yes, Daichi, God knows that when I could have any guy who treats women like a person I will purposely go and try to get some from some misogynic prick. You saw right through me…!' Her words dipped sarcasm as she hurried piled her hair into a bun so the dirty ends of her hair didn't also stain her clothes. 'You know what? She didn't really say any of that, I made it up. She told me other things. Good luck finding out what, though.'

'If that's how you want to give me such messages I'd rather not hear them at all.' said Daichi, also not getting away from irony. He didn't feel like even starting another argument with the girl, but she seemed to simply beg for it. If that was not true then why did she play it off that way? Even he didn't do such things to other people! If he didn't want them to know, he simply didn't tell.

He looked back at Kushina with anger. Now he really wanted to know what the blonde said, but at such situation it seemed that he would have to do something to gain that information and he was not going to say sorry for something that was the girl's fault. So he held his lips shut tight. Too bad it couldn't stay that way through the whole process. As smooth as people were there, this time it seemed they just couldn't go through the fact they came to get money. What an awful day it turned out to be.

Kushina glared at the other hatefully and said nothing. She'd wanted to check if the rumors were true and Daichi hadn't denied it, so those two HAD been together, so shortie was the one lying there. More information would need to be gathered. She decided she wouldn't tell him about the things she'd done during the mission either. Disturbing as they were, they'd probably just turn the redhead on, and that would be gross. In the meantime, she was busy shaking the chuunin in charge of payroll by the front of his shirt to think about it too much.

'I-I'm dreadfully sorry miss Uzumaki, but-'

'You'll be more sorry if you don't give me my payment right now! What is this bullshit about me getting seventy five ryuu? I was supposed to get three hundred!'

Three hundred each, that was the deal, that's how missions were split, and from that money, all jounin-level ninja had to pay their village's superior to keep their rooms and cover their basic expanses, and with that she barely had enough to pay little over half of it with seventy five! What about her other expenses? Her situation was considerably better than her remaining teammate though, considering Sabaku no Daichi's grand final closing sum was a consistent zero.

Daichi sighed, not very happy about the turn out of the events at all. Then he finally moved forward, seeing that Kushina's efforts were getting little to no effects.

'Move, woman.' he said, pushing her out of the way and catching the chuunin on the shirt, exactly the same spot that was held by the girl a moment before 'It seems that he needs something more solid than a few shakes. When he wakes up on the intensive care he would surely remember where is our money, though he might never be able to play on violin or dance polka ever again.'

Then he had gritted his teeth in a grind that was heard clearly in the loud room and rose his fist, tensing his muscles hard. Now was the time to see if the human's head actually was just as weak as the one of the dummy doll's and if he had to train more to make it blow to pieces

'I don't care about hers, but where is my money, huh?'

'Maybe you should ask your captain.' Sakumo Hatake, two tables next to them didn't look up from counting the money he was getting from his last short mission. 'She is the one who withdrew the bulk of it.'

A suicidal move, as far as he was concerned, but Minato had been wearing only a fresh track suit without her gloves and wearing just the standard ninja sandals, so maybe she did know what she was doing? With a tired sigh he picked up his money and put it on one of the many pockets of his vest.

'Let go of him, Sabaku, he's not going to give you something he doesn't have.' He didn't want to fight with this brat, but he wasn't going to let him harm the poor guy in a hissy fit. The redhead looked back sharply at the man, then his glare deepened. With a harsh move he tossed the boy on his chair, not really caring that he fell out of it and stormed out of the room, not pretending he was thankful for the information. All he cared about now was finding the blonde and finally facing the truth he didn't want to think about: she was pushing him against the wall because she had issues he didn't think she had as he was always as sweet as he could toward her. Great. From all things she could have grown into she seemed to become a replica of witch he had to work with. Great. Even greater.

The blonde was, from all things, in the cafeteria, drinking tea with an elderly-looking toad with exceptionally thick glasses and eating a box of pocky. The brown batrachian was looking at a small pile of papers with squinted, comically magnified eyes and nodding to itself as he went over whatever was written in that list, taking notes on a small notepad as he went over it. The cafeteria was still rather empty, it being too late for lunch and too early for dinner, but there was a faint background noise from the many conversations going on. Said noise died to nothing as soon as the redhead entered the cafeteria, followed shortly by a the taller female.

At the sight the blonde also looked in that direction, staring for a moment, then turning to the pumpkin-sized frog with an apologetic smile.

'I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to retire, Shukei-san.' she said low enough not to be heard. 'I'll get back to you as soon as possible to continue talking.'

'Of course, Namikaze-san,'

With a brisk nod the pudgy frog took the papers from the table, the summon disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Minato to slowly reach for another chocolate-covered candy and start it as she waited for the older man stalking closer.

Daichi didn't want to play and bask around the bush, so he ignored the frog and didn't even notice other people in the further corners of the room. He went straight to the table at which the blonde sat and stopped only when he was sure he was blocking the path of sun shining on her head. He crossed his hands and looked down at her.

'My money.' he uttered in curt, demanding tone, no more, no less the same voice that the Third used when he barked at his minions 'Where are they.'

'Wherever you keep it, I assume.' The blonde said, taking another chocolate stick and munching on it as well. 'If you lost it, you should check with your roommates or the captain in charge of your quarters.'

'Don't play dumb with me, Minato!' he howled, banging his open palm against the surface of the table. It was the first time he had finally addressed her, and he didn't like it that he did it in such rude gesture. But it seemed that unless he showed his respect he was not going to get any 'I'm asking about the money for the last mission! It was supposed to be paid for six hundred ryuus and I got zero on my account! As much as we hate each other we always play fair with our money and we slice the sum at the half even if someone is not taking the mission! Hatake said it's your job so I'm asking: where is it?'

The blonde paused in the middle of the stick, staring at the obviously angry male with large blue eyes, then pushed the rest of the stick into her mouth and chewed on it.

'I thought you got along well with Uzumaki-san?' the question was thrown off handedly, though she didn't look away or reach for another treat. 'The money is in my account, where it's supposed to be.' She didn't look away, just blinked at the other calmly.

'You did nothing, so I don't see why you should get paid. Uzumaki at least attended, though she was late…'

Daichi opened his mouth, but the words died at his throat as the blue eyes had turned at him. Gods, womankind was such a big unfairness on all men on the world. He waited in silence for a moment, searching for words, but he could not find anything biting enough as it was in the end – true. If he was in her place that would be probably how he would handle the situation, if he cared enough to get through all that bureaucracy that happened to be in academy. And because it was worse than morning hangover, it was the only reason why nobody else before them decided to touch it. Much to his dismay, he felt the need to actually applaud the girl for walking through it. If he was on her side, maybe it would be actually a good thing.

But because he wasn't, he just swallowed the compliment smoothly, ignoring the joyful hops his heart made, completely oblivious to his brain. So, instead of throwing threats he would not execute because of not being able to look in the mirror later, he just leaned over, careful enough to break the private bubble, but not enough to make anyone scared of it. He smelled the dirt and fresh soap he didn't know he missed… He swallowed the cutting remark that danced on his tongue again. Instead, he just glared back with his eyes, hard enough to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

'I hate you.' he muttered finally with the quietest voice, feeling that those words were not even half as good as a threat of three years old, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything worse right into what he faced 'I hate you so much, woman.'

And with that he turned around and stormed off the café with exactly the same speed as he came in, pushing against Kushina just as hardly as he ever did if he ever wanted her to know it was her turn to take on the enemy. He had, by no means, more will to fight this now. The girl didn't inch away or look in any other direction, but underneath the long sleeves of her jacket and pants, her muscles tensed. Not only because she needed to be ready to flee should the other make any sort of move, but because she didn't want him close. She was willing to work with him for the sake of her mission and that was the only reason she was even exchanging words with him at all. That didn't mean the promise she'd made him didn't stand still, and that would only end up with a confrontation she wasn't ready to face yet, and that she sincerely hoped she wouldn't have to at all. Either way, she didn't like people in her private space. Especially not people taller, heavier and more muscled than her.

She didn't respond to such a statement, merely being faintly puzzled about the fact he had, for all appearances, given her the reason on regards of her decision, then watched him go away. It was only when she was sure he wouldn't turn back to attack her that she reached for another pocky, her eyes turning to the other redhead, her eyes going to her hair for a moment in curiosity to it's less than pristine state, then back to her face.

'Yes, Uzumaki-san?' Kushina, who was still busy trying to wrap her mind around the fact Daichi hadn't just punched a new breathing hole through the midget's face, that he had walked away- nay, he had RAN away- from a confrontation with a girl he could easily squish between two hands when he kind of made a sport out of manhandling females. Oh yes.

There was something there, but now he had more important matters to handle. Matters such as-

'…how am I supposed to live on seventy five ryuu?' she suddenly cried, slamming a hand on the table in the same way the other had and leaning just as close, not that she warranted any further reactions from the other female, save from quietly munching on the sweets. 'My room alone costs ninety ryuu a week!'

'I'd suggest you to find some way to get the missing fifteen ryuu before week's end. If you need it fast, you could ask Tsunade-sensei, I hear the percentage she requests to have returned is rather fair.'

Kushina stared at the smaller female incomprehensively.

'…I'm not going to borrow money!'

'Then I suggest for you to request another team if they would like your help or to share a room with another friend until you are able to. I hear private rooms are very sought after, Uzumaki-san.'

'I…you-'

She'd pay.

#+#+#+#+#+#

Two days had passed when Daichi's clock had rang again in the same loud motion. And this time he got his feet on the cold floor just as he did before. He did not want to see the blonde. But alas, mission awaited and he wanted to save his status of a ninja who could pay for himself. Sure, he could always ask for money from Third and he still had some in his private account, but that would be no more, no less but insulting to his own opinion and questioning his sensei's abilities. Slowly, he moved out of the room, with a groan reminding himself that this time he was supposed to take B-ranked mission, something that was too low for his own tastes. He could train at the same time.

But alas, money went first. With a sour face he showed up just on time, not even greeting the blonde as he stopped at the wall with crossed arms and stared off into the distance. He hated her, he said that, so he had to act up to that. So he did.

Kushina didn't. Minato didn't acknowledge it in one way or another, save for waiting another extra minute or two to make sure she wouldn't show up. At 4:03 A.M. , she gave up.

'I'll request a signed constancy that Uzumaki Kushina is late again when I return.' she told the pair guarding the door. Both males nodded immediately. She gave a look at her new subordinate, not sure she wanted to do this after all. Not that she could go back on her world, that would ruin her record and she'd never go back on something she had already agreed that she could do.

Daichi had grown a lot in the past three years, the differences much more pronounced than in the half year they hadn't seen each other the first time. She didn't like those changes at all. She didn't like the idea of being alone with him, and she already disliked picturing how taxing this mission would be if she'd have to be constantly on her guard just so he wouldn't murder her and dispose of her body while he had the chance to do it without witnesses. At least it was only a B-rank… She'd have to push it and finish it as fast as possible. And maybe she'd get lucky and the remaining redhead would come along? Not that it would be any more restful, but at least she could trust Uzumaki to have less cold blood than the redhead.

She adjusted the heavy bandages on her ankle then stood up and smiled lightly at the older man.

'Let's get going.'

Daichi didn't move an inch.

'Witch isn't here yet.' he answered coldly and remained in his position. Uzumaki, that traitor! He should have known better than to trust the idea she wouldn't leave him alone with her.

'If she comes, she can catch up.' the blonde said amiably.

Daichi didn't answer. He just tensed up his shoulder like if he wanted to do a shrug, but decided against in the middle of that. His eyes slowly moved to watch the horizon.

'You can stay if you don't want to come.' she said in the same exact tone as before. 'I've done these kind of mission on my own before.'

'I'm here, therefore I'm coming.' he said, then closed his eyes, smirking sarcastically 'Oh, joy, where's this Konohan 'friendship' if you tell me to leave a comrade around?'

'Friendship is something usually reciprocated, Sabaku-sama.' the girl said, turning around and starting to walk up north, 'If Uzumaki cared anything for mine, she'd be here in time.'

Sabaku looked at her retreating back for a moment. Then he frowned a bit with sour expression. A wounded heart usually whispered the worst words when it suffered the most.

'Oh, that's right.' he muttered under his nose, but not low enough to not let it be hearable 'I forgot you didn't have any friends.'

And with that, he unglued his back from the wall and started moving along her, not caring for uncrossing his arms. Minato didn't answer one way or another. She had to bite back the strong urge to say something, maybe the so often repeated 'attachments slow you down', but she refrained to through conscious effort. Not because she didn't think that and not because the other wasn't right. She just didn't want to start a discussion, hell, she didn't even want to converse. The least she had to speak with the redhead, the better for everyone.

Daichi was far away from that though. As he woke up he was in the bad mood and as he saw her ignoring him it only deepened. The lack of the other redhead was only worsening the matter. Frowning, he moved closer, taxing the back of the blonde, not seeing anything more or less curvaceous with all clothes, not knowing if he liked it or not. But as the silence deepened it started playing with his nerves. _'Don't ignore me!'_ was all he wanted to shout even if they didn't walk away far enough from the gates to lose it from the sight. He smirked even more, making it both look pretty unhappy and ugly at the same time, because of the same reason.

'Does your boyfriend think so too?' he taunted, almost hissing at the word he didn't want to even hear about now 'Or maybe you go for girls now, huh? Gods knows only what you did there when I wasn't around, ugh!...'

Minato stopped, turning to give him a perplexed look. She had no idea what was that had happened to the redhead in there almost four years they hadn't seen each other, but it was far from a change from the better. This was a provocation, obviously. Minato didn't feel provoked in the least, however, not really caring what the other could think of her or not. Not since the what had happened in rain country, when Daichi had lost any right to have her care for what he thought of her. Looking slightly put off, she continued walking.

Daichi tsked at that.

'Whore.' he commented, more out of desperation than his true feelings. Then he turned his head away like if his own words had burnt him, not even looking at her. He felt hurt at the open ignorance, something completely different from the screaming and hatred he expected. If the blonde screamed and even decided to scold him, it would be like with Kushina – they bickered and jumped at each other, but it was some kind of affection in the end. Just typed out in wrong words. But if she didn't even react… he felt that he could have as well drop dead just now and she wouldn't do much more than wince at the sight of his dead body. That hurt even more than he thought he would.

'Bitch!' he shouted once again, this time louder. He didn't care that he said that to someone who was much higher in ranks than him 'What, are you now so highty and mighty you won't even answer me? Fine, don't do that! But if that's your idea for a team then I'm going to report that to the higher instances!'

'What am I supposed to answer when you say that kind of things?' Minato saw fit to answer. Really, what did he expect of her? She really didn't understand it.

'How about truth, huh? You owe me at least that much!' said Daichi, then bit himself on the tongue. He said too much. But then, good. Maybe too much but at least he was honest. Then he stopped, not following further 'Or is that how am I supposed to call you now? Whore-sensei?'

'What truth…?' Minato wasn't faking how lost she felt in this conversation. 'I really have no idea what are you trying to get me to say, Sabaku-sama.'

She ignored the whore comments altogether, considering it wasn't the first time they had been directed at her. Ridiculous, just the same. Daichi scrunched his face even more out of anger. Inside he felt like if he was kicked right where it hurt the most.

'Of course.' he muttered, then squeezed his hands 'Of course you don't! You never knew to begin with, right? You just took what you liked!' he shouted, then turned around heading back to the gates from which he just came out. 'I just only met you and I can't stand you. Go and play alone in your 'team' as you like it. I'm going to do some training with my shadow. At least he is more honest with me than some people.'

Minato stared at him walk away feeling even more confused than she'd originally been to begin with. She had no way to explain how the other was reacting, what did he mean by it, where any of this was coming from or where it was supposed to go, for the matter. Either way, she couldn't deny she felt relieved by the fact she'd be on her own for it. She was good at adapting to teams, but in general preferred solo missions, and considering no one seemed interested in this one, she would also be needing all the money she could get her hands on. Either way… Strike two for those two. One more slip and they'd have to bear with the consequences.

Kushina, in the meantime, was in the making of her revenge. This time she had no plans of following blondie there to the mission, no matter how much she needed the money. She'd just take a couple C ranks or something and make it up before week's end, but in the meantime, she'd take the chance to see what she could get on her shiny new captain. That was the reason which, after making sure both her and Daichi had departed, she sneaked back to her room to gather her bag of wonders. The bag of wonders was a deceivingly small backpack Kushina liked to carry around whenever she was feeling vindictive (or bored) enough.

It didn't take long enough for her to find the blonde's room, just one little trip to the secretary and a nicely placed genjutsu that made the old bat think her lipstick had smudged on one corner and would keep her entertained until she realized she was actually starting to scratch skin off. Then it was just a matter of patience to make sure the place was deserted. Minato was currently occupying the quarters on the area designed for the teachers, a sort of department complexes with way better facilities than genin and chuunin got, but not really much better than the average jounin ones she herself had. Getting in was a piece of cake, even though security had been upped since the last time she had done this and 'accidentally' started a small fire.

It was once she was inside Minato's room that she encountered the first problem. Step one of the plan was, as usual, going through the girl's stuff. The problem was there was hardly any 'stuff' to go through. The room the girl was occupying was one of the smallest ones in this building, with enough room for a single bed, a library, a closely and a desk to fit a little too comfortably.

The rest of the room was made and in such pristine conditions one would think it was inhabited. Another look showed there to be a small bag fit between the wall and the bed, but even so, this was a little too little for her tastes. At least their last captain from rock had had an incredibly interesting selection of cock rings to go through. This girl didn't seem to have anything that interesting save for some ugly figurines on the desk, something so utterly childish and gaudy she didn't give them a second glance-

'Hey you!' And that's when she met the second problem.

Jumping into a defensive stance, she scanned the room for any sensei that had caught her with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar, but the room was just as empty as before.

'What the…'

'What are you doing here?'

This time she used her hearing to determine the position of the enemy, her eyes taking her to the corner in which the desk with the figurines rested, and that's when she realized they weren't figurines at all. There were five minuscule frogs sitting on the small desk put in one corner, each of them a dazzling blue with scattered black dots, playing with a bizarre set of cards with… what looked to be butterfly strippers on them. All of them were wearing black gakuran uniforms, with only the smallest one having a white headband tied over its brows. Go figure.

As the kunoichi tried to wrap her mind around the fact thumb-sized froggies were playing with butterfly stripper cards in her captain's desk, the animals started showing more and more agitation to her presence.

'Yeah, the princess isn't here!' the one with the headband said with a surprisingly deep voice. Kushina's lips stretched into a smile just at how silly it sounded. 'You are invading private territory!' piped a second, putting down its hand and squinting beady black eyes. 'No one is to enter the princess quarters without her permission!'

'Especially on her absence!'

'Never while we are on guard duty!'

'Leave at once, intruder!'

Kushina's smile broke into a grin and she let out a small string of giggles. For their size, those things sure had deep voices, and apparently those were arranged to be inversely proportional to how big they were.

'What the… Hell.' She leaned closer to inspect the four frogs glaring at her.

'You are not welcome to the princess territory, intruder!' Headband said, pointing at her with a delicate little hand ended in tiny balls at the of each webbed finger. 'Leave at once or suffer the consequences!' Now Kushina knew Minato was the prized apprentice of the great Toad Sennin, so she wasn't that surprised she'd left some as means of security – she'd started to wonder about the lack of traps in the room - but to leave this tiny, pathetic –

'Terrorism! She carries exploding tags!' - sneaky little bastards!

The fifth frog had somehow sneaked into her backpack and was shaking the crumpled tags on its tiny firsts. The other four set of beady eyes went to her with murderous intentions. Headband pointed at her. 'Bring down the terrorist!'

'Commence hostilities!'

'Defend the territory!'

'Attack!'

The next thing she knew was that there were twenty sticky limbs with equally cold, sticky bodies sticking to bare patches of her skin. Now Kushina was a professional ninja and as such she didn't scare easily. She could bear with battle wounds with almost no complain, march and keep up with any other jounin in this academy, and she wasn't prone to the sets of hysterics some other kunoichi were capable of. She came from a country that was rich in humid and watery climate and frogs were nothing new for her, nor something that freaked her out. Having a tiny frog crawling down her shirt, however, was where she drew the limit.

'…GETTOFFAME!' A moment later the previously silent room became a battle zone with the fast little frogs jumping over the redhead and off again to avoid getting squished at by her constant flailing and swatting at them.

'You'll never bring down the Aoi team!'

'Let go you little pervert!'

'Pray for mercy, terrorist!'

'Get off my face!'

Kushina failed to see what the group was trying to do, save from pissing her off greatly. All they did was jump on her face, arms and ankles, then jump off and repeat the action. She quickly decided she'd take another chance after she got herself a nice, fat snake to treat with these little pets and turned around to try and make a run for the door- only to fall on her knees. 'Fuck it!'

'The intruder is going down!' Headband cried, jumping straight at her face and sticking to it. With a cry of disgust she swatted at it, and though she managed to throw the thing off, it wasn't nearly as strong a blow as she had intended it to. She scrambled for the door on feet that were starting to feel less and less coordinate, but it wasn't until she tried to grab the door's handle that she realized she couldn't. When she tried to grasp the knob, her hand continued on its own until it bumped against the wood, more than three inches away from the piece of metal. Irritated, she tried again, but her hand fell down to rest by her hip as if the limb had suddenly decided it was too much effort to move it.

And that's when Uzumaki Kushina found her third problem. Now anyone with a good grasp on how did Nature work on regards of certain specific abilities – Daichi, for example - would have been able to tell right away what that almost neon-blinding azure-ness of the frog's skin meant, but Kushina was used to other type of poisonous creatures. She'd lived practically all of her life going from one spot of Water country to another following missions, and so her idea of dangerous animals were limited to things that had prickles or teeth or stings to get you with.

She knew a cone snail could kill you in less than four minutes with just a prick, that a hook-nose snake, delicious as it might be, was just as deadly. One of her ex-teammates had once stepped on a stone fish and had had to have his leg amputated to the knee to save his life, and no one knew better than her than even dried tentacles of coffin jellyfish remained just as a active and poisonous as the live thing.

Compared with any of these menaces, she would have never stopped to think that something as harmless as a tiny frog (a thing without claws, teeth or any sort of threatening feature but a humid, squishy body!) would be able to poison anything else just by skin contact alone. As such she continued thinking she was exceptionally clumsy up until she fell on her knees as her body slowly started tingling over as if she'd had a strong injection of novocain on the limbs.

'What… did you…' she wheezed, her breathing a lot more labored than it was supposed to be. Not that she was a woman prone to panic attacks, but when your limbs didn't respond, and breathing was getting to be a lot more effort than simply filling your lungs was supposed to be, she felt if she started to have one, she'd be justified. '…dddo…' her tongue felt a little too thick to be right. She prayed it was only imagining it.

Five pairs of beady eyes stared at her in what undoubtedly the group found to be a rather cool and proud pose.

'The terrorist has been brought down, boss!'

'Excellent! The princess will be proud of us.'

As the world started taking on those lovely green and grey hues that indicated incoming loss of consciousness, Kushina decided that if she survived this, she would never look at frog's feet for dinner the same way.


	11. Chapter 11

'Lady Tsunade!' the small frog saluted the doctor, his hind legs rigid for a moment, before they bent in their usual way. The entrance of the tiny frog to the nurse's quarters had been a loud and rather disorganized event. It had appeared in the middle of the changing room, and the nurses, all professionals with lots of bared skin and a rather deadly amphibian hopping around, had predictably stampeded as far away from it as possible. The poisonous frog had pursued, loudly asking everyone on its path for the Slug Sennin's location until the blonde herself had finally showed up. 'Lady Tsunade! I have a message to deliver for you!'

The blonde rose her eyes at the amphibians, as she would have never expected a messenger to get inside her office with such a loud entrance, but then, what did she know. It was a frog, and nonetheless a small one, so it was probably perfect for spying. And seeing what kind of doors it took it was probably one of the Jiraiya's trainees as well. She could only imagine what did he do with those frogs when they weren't on their duty. The sole idea made her teeth cringe a bit.

'What is it?' she asked with a bit more loud tone than it was needed 'Did something happen to the perverted master of yours?'

'Oh, no! We haven't seen Jiraiya-sama in quite a while. We are here on behest of the princess!' he saluted again.

'Princess?' said Tsunade, once again surprised. Funny, how frogs could come up with any title, but then, they usually held more weirder ones for the males. Or maybe it was just because there really hadn't been a sage who was female among the toad summons. 'Is something wrong with Minato-chan then?'

'Not when she employs the Aoi team, my lady! The princess has left us in charge of safeguarding her territory in her absence. We have specific orders to reach you as soon as any intruder is caught and to bring you to it before it expires, my lady!'

'So here I am, informing that our mission has been a success! The terrorist has been brought down swiftly, we await your orders.' Another salute.

'Expires?...' said Tsunade, not very happy at the choice of the words. Did it mean that the intruder was slowly… rotting away?... Killing happened, but that didn't mean she liked it any better when she had to deal with it. As a doctor, her first aid was to save a life, not to bury the dead. 'What do you mean 'expires'? Where is that person and what did it intrude? I don't understand.'

'The princess territory!'

What was with humans and their inability to understand how important was to keep a territory of your own safe and sound. How did they ever feel secure without good protections? 'A terrorist entered the princess territory with ill intentions and we stop it. We were instructed to inform you of it as soon as it happened and before the intruder suffocates.'

'Suffocates?' said Tsunade with raised tone, then she stood up from her chair 'I know that ninja terrorities are private and kept under the harsh watches, but I told the headmaster to stop this ridiculousity with such hard protections… bring him in, I don't want him dead. And report what did you do to him so I would know how to heal him.'

'We touched the intruder extensively, my lady!' the small frog said, the tone obviously indicating how proud by the feat he felt. His next sentence was a lot more sheepish in comparison. 'As for bringing her in… I'm afraid you will have to ask someone else for it. She is far too large for us to carry.'

Tsunade eyed the frog for a moment, like if It said something she wouldn't expect of it to say, then she sighed and moved her hand at the random nurse that tried to stay away from the group of boasting blue amphibians. 'Meroko, go after them and bring the suicidal person in. You can take someone for help. Be sure to not touch him or her or whoever the poor thing is… we will have to do a heavy detoxication. Thank you… what's your name?'

'Ao, my lady, at your service! Please follow me, the boss and the rest are by the terrorist as we speak!' Once the nurse got into movement, it was hard to keep up with the surprisingly fast batrachians. It wasn't long after that Uzumaki was carried in and immediately attached to an oxygen tank. Apparently the four or five injections she'd been given on the way worked well enough if her conscious state signified anything. 'Frogs dog piled me,' she slurred tearfully around her slightly bloated tongue. 'I'll eat them.'

'I'm afraid not.' Said Tsunade, making an injection on her skin to make sure how poisoned she was, though the look itself already said it was something above average 'You'd die from poisoning. Where was your captain when this had happened?'

The redhead suddenly became fascinated with the numerous pointy things they were trying to jab on her arms and mumbled something incoherent.

'…just as I thought.' Said Tsunade and slowly took away the needle to not hurt the patient any more than she had to. 'I'm saying this only because it's my duty, not because you would understand me now… you'll have to stay here for awhile and if you decide to go out of here against my orders it will be only done on your own account and I won't take responsibility for your health then. That's it for now.' And with that, Tsunade walked away, passing the filled needle to one of the nurses and wore a pair of plastic surgeon gloves. 'Now it's time for a little check up of the Mother Nature.' She said and caught one of the frogs in her hands 'Will you volunteer?'

The specimen, a stout, little male made a fist of one webbed hand and held it up in a confidant expression. 'My lady, I'm at your service!'

'Good.' Said the woman and vanished in the laboratory. This seemed to be a day which didn't end with the beginning of sunset. When a few minutes later the news reached Daichi, he was pissed. He showed up at the doors of the infirmary, and even if the nurses tried to stop him, he made his way through and stood just in front of the Kushina, whose skin became much more blueish and at least twice as big as it was before and stared at it, not believing his eyes.

'How could you let something colored like that touch you?' he spat in astonishment, then closed his palms in fists 'You're even more idiotic than I thought you were! Who am I going to punch now when you're laying on intensive care?' And without waiting for the response, he stormed out of the room in a run, already knowing the response: no one. If that continued on, soon enough the school will have to start gathering money for new set of dummy dolls, because he was sure enough that nobody wanted the building to be destroyed. And if the dolls were going to get his full attention just like now, in a day or two he would have to find something more solid to take on with his fists. As far as he saw, the building was the hardest thing that he could try his hands on.

Kushina, who had foolishly enough expected some sort of sympathy from her teammate calmly raised both hands to give his retreating back the finger. Self-centered bastard, she could have died because his ex was a psycho and he didn't even care! She still failed to see what difference made if the attacking frogs were mint flavor or raspberry fresh, but knowing Daichi, it was probably some idiotic Suna rule. It was only when Tsunade came back rushing with what looked like half the infirmary carried bags after bag of clear fluid and connecting them to her veins that she started to get the impression she might have slightly overlooked her adversaries repertoire of comebacks. Especially when said comebacks apparently could kill you unless you got immediate medical attention.

Tsunade wasn't a genius on the field for nothing, however, so Kushina survived the first night between her flesh threatening to burst open from how bloated she became and her tongue turning dark green for chemical reactions that frankly sounded too creepy for her to want to know what the hell they meant. By the time Minato came back from the mission, she was already on the last stages of clearing the poison out of her system, which included feeling like if your piss was made of fire and a incredibly itchy rash that howled in agony if you so much touched any of it.

'Oh my,' was all the blonde said when she took a look at her. 'I see you've met the Blue team…'

'They tried to kill me!'

'Yes, they are very territorial...' Good thing sensei had warned her of what those five were capable of before she thought of getting close with any. 'I hope they didn't cause much trouble, Tsunade-sensei. Good thing I didn't leave the gold team, too... then you would have had real problems.'

At the smile she received, the redhead felt that if she hadn't been strapped to bed to keep her from scratching herself and probably slippery from the salve she had on the rash, she could tear that little blonde's face with her fingers alone. Very, very gladly.

'I can't say I was happy to retrieve the patient either way, but you're welcome, Minato-chan.' Said Tsunade, filling Kushina's card and giving it to her 'This is report about her health for the past days as you asked.'

'Thank you,' the blonde gave it a quick look over, then turned towards the sennin. 'When do you think she will be officially discharged and able to take on a mission?'

'In a few days.' said Tsunade, looking toward Kushina and eyeing her rash that started to vanish, but it was still clearly visible to the time being 'Three to five probably. She has to get out all of the poison out of her system before she does that. So I'd suggest to let her stay for five days, just to be sure.'

'I'll keep that in mind when I accept our next mission.' She carefully pocketed the papers inside her vest, giving the older woman a small bow. 'Thank you for taking care of her, Tsunade-sensei.' She turned towards Kushina 'Uzumaki-san, I'll give you the information on the mission as soon as you are out, please rest in the meantime. If you'll excuse me, I need to have a run through payroll.' Kushina watched her go as she wondered how much would she squirm if she used her own hair to choke her. Die.

Tsunade also gave the girl a look as she walked away, though in her doings it was much more worried than the fierce gaze the other girl sent. It seemed that the training in her hometown once again became futile when training the ninjas to be more emotionally stable. Hopefully, Orochimaru was the last one to rise upon the worst results of their training.

Minato didn't do much during that week. She mostly spent it going through data with the Tsuchikage's assistant, training on her own and helping with a genin team that Sakumo has asked her to look after so he could take a well deserved rest. By the time Kushina was finally out of the hospital she was more than ready to take on a mission, bored out of her mind as she was. To top it, this one sounded interesting. 'I'll be leaving tomorrow at 6AM,' she informed them with the usual report. 'But feel free to not come on this one either.'

The redhead sniffed slightly, her nose still running every now and then despite the antiallergenic she'd been given. She gave the mission a superficial look, then glared at the shorter girl. 'You act like if you don't care if we come or not.'

'I don't.'

'What?'

'I don't care if you come or not.' She explained helpfully.

Daichi didn't even rise his eyes from the card as he scanned through it. 'Don't be so surprised, Uzumaki, she has no idea what a team is.' He said with freezing tone 'She thinks that if she does everything alone it would be just as helpful to team as it is now. She always had problems with seeing what really mattered.'

'I know what an effective team is, Sabaku-sama,' the blonde said, her expression not changing at all from the polite smile she wore before. 'And neither of you can be considered one. Maybe you can be good enough on your own, but together you are a disaster.'

'That's not true!' The older girl replied hotly , cheeks flushing from anger 'We finish our missions!' 'You finish them by chance. You two spend more time bickering between each other or fooling around than taking a mission seriously. You are more a risk for the mission than actual help completing them.'

Daichi shrugged lightly. 'It's not my fault the witch doesn't listen or can't give clear orders when she is in charge.' He said, then turned his eyes to the blonde, once again feeling how his heart clenched at the look of blue eyes 'We are one of the best teams though and you have no idea how we work. You have never seen us in action.'

'The best of team shows up late or doesn't show up at all for its mission? A team can't follow orders, attempts against their own supervisors and can't follow a direct order? ' the blonde's smile turned slightly up in amusement. 'You are two are a bad team that can only do right a thing or two and think everyone should be impressed by it.'

'You-!' this was finally too much for Kushina. Being ignored during the mission, being almost murdered by a bunch of fanatic, toothpaste-colored frogs and now insulted by this midget!

Drawing back a fist, she did her very best to try and break her pretty little nose into a billion pieces that would hopefully lodge into her pink, soft brain meats. Her best effort amounted her to barely catch herself before hitting head first against the tree the blonde had been leaning in.

'Maybe you should rest a bit more, Uzumaki-san?' the blonde was now five or six meters away from her, looking mildly concerned 'I don't think you are too sure on your feet yet. '

'The team tells whole truth about their captain.' Said Daichi calmly, completely ignoring the fact his teammate just almost attacked a tree 'If the team cannot go well against the rules it's captain's duty to make it so. I would do everything if I met a right person to follow and I'm yet to see someone like that. If that's all you're going to say then excuse me, I'm going to train.'

Minato watched him go without answering.

She could have argued that she'd barely spent with them little less than a month, with several of those days not even seeing or crossing words with either of the pair. She could have argued that someone like him would only admit his ever-idolized Kazekage to impart an order and obey it without complaints. She could have even gone as far as to say that the boy she'd called sempai would probably try to murder him for insubordination and being a bad example of what a Suna shinobi was like.

She *could* have said any of those things, but didn't. In the end she agreed with him completely.

'I'll see you tomorrow, Uzumaki-san,' she said, moving slightly to the side to prevent being stabbed by the redhead. 'Please do try to rest'

Daichi, seeing no expected or (what was worse) no unexpected reaction only tsked and walked away. If that was how she wanted to handle him then how did she want to handle them… at all? It seemed that in the end, his last years of stay here would become nothing but a waste of time. Which wasn't something he really felt good about. Wordlessly, he walked away to meet up with dummy doll once again. The rendez vous of such sorts if it didn't help – it never hurt anyone.

'What did you see in her anyway?' Kushina had waited a little while so it didn't look like if she was following, but once she reached the training grounds she engaged in the most therapeutic and channeling activity she knew of. 'Is it the blonde hair? Is it because she's blonde? Because she's very underage? Is it a blonde, underage fetish from Suna?' And nothing spelled sanity of mind like seeing a big panel of bright buttons on Daichi's board and gleefully stomping on them. 'You really slept with her without knowing she was a girl?'

Daichi glanced at the red-haired girl for a moment, not for once stopping his kicks on the peachy colored doll. Then, without the slightest warning, his leg, instead of hitting the side of head of the puppet it landed on the side of the girl, pushing her into the grounds. It wasn't a hard kick, more like a push than an actual battling move, but it held every sign of hostility it could provide if used seriously. 'What are you doing? Want me to bite through your artery?' he spoke with calm but warning tone 'Come on, witch. You know you don't stand a chance against me anyway. Freak.'

'You dated that thing and I'm the freak?' she spat, cradling her side. Daichi might think that wasn't a hard kick, but the bastard usually forgot normal humans hadn't been brought up on a steady diet of iron sand fist for breakfast lunch and dinner, so his perception of a weak hit was a bit different from other people's. Then again, she'd just hit a sore spot on purpose and so far she had all her bones intact. That Suna bastard really must have a soft spot for her. 'Are you going?'

'You wouldn't understand anyway.' Said Daichi, frowning at the words that were shot at him, and turned back to the dummy doll again. He was not going anywhere. 'I'm staying.' He said dully and resumed his kicking. If she didn't want to accept invitation to fight, it was fine. Dummies didn't respond to kicks, but he learned to live with that long time ago. So it was perfectly fine. On the third kick, the head of the doll turned a bit the way it was never supposed to be. So weak they were made these days.

'Then I'm not going either,' the redhead stated, crouching down and wrapping her arms around her legs. 'It's not like if she even wants us there in the first place, so why the hell was she sent here for anyway?'

'Because gods want to laugh into my face.' Said Daichi, though when he said that it was so muffled and clutched by his clenched jaw that it was a miracle if the girl heard at least one word correctly. He didn't toss her a glance but accepted her stay by not tossing her out. Which was pretty kind of him considering how bitter he felt. Maybe he should have stopped being a macho and for once just act like a simple caveman if there was an opportunity presented – went through his head. But with one quick lustration of the red-haired woman it went as quickly as it came. No. At least not in this timeline.

'I don't know, go and ask someone who is responsible.' He stated out loud to deafen all the thoughts that were buzzing near his head like lazy bumblebees. 'Be useful for once.' With that, he executed a harsh block right onto the dummy doll's chest. The material creaked dangerously with a deafened thud. Too weak to crush ribs. Too weak.

'I think it's your fault. You probably did something horrible to her and she just came to have her revenge on you.' Too bad she didn't seem to register Daichi existed or acted like if they'd had a relationship in the first place… Talk about cold shoulder. She thought about reminding Daichi that he owed her to cover her ramen tab, considering it had already been a little over a month that the blonde was still a steady, practically unscratched presence among them, but then thought better about it and kept quiet. It's not like the money she owed Daichi for the same bet wasn't still on the line, and even if her tabs were by far superior to it… She hadn't been able to consume much of it during her stay on the hospital. Better save it for a more plethoric month.

On regards of why she was there in the first place…

'Maybe I will.' One would have thought that with her boisterous personality, her harsh manners and that candy-colored hair, Uzumaki Kushina would be the least capable person for infiltration… and that one would be very, very wrong. Do far she hadn't been able to find much about the girl, nothing more than what little other people knew of her from before she left the academy or what was overheard from Konoha, but she hadn't really been trying, so…

'I don't think they are coming, do you?'

Gonzou gave his brother a look, then looked down (very far down) to the tiny figure of the Konoha girl leaning against the tree. They were tall, even for ninja from Rock, and as such the dark skinned and heavily muscled pair tended to tower over most of the population in the academy. The girl was far from an exception, and skinny enough either of them could provably snap her in two with one hand and yet… there was something positively frightening about the sweet way she was smiling right then.'I don't think so, Namikaze-san.' he finally answered.

'That makes it three, right?' she asked in what for some reason sounded like childish delight, turning to look at his brother. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought that he saw the older man wince. 'Three each of them.'

'That's right, Namikaze-san.' Kazue answered with a curt nod.

'…all right.'

One would have thought that a unit captain that didn't seem to be able to control her underlings shouldn't look pleased by such a fact, but the blonde looked the part. Disturbingly so. 'Please write that down as well, that will be all for now. Thank you for the help."

With a small nod to the pair, she turned around and finally left the gates. For some reason, breathing was suddenly a lot easier. Gonzou wiped his brow.

'What the hell was that?'

'I'd rather not know.' He answered, looking at the quickly retreating figure. All he knew was that whatever the hell was going through that girl's mind, he was thankful for the fact it had nothing to do with them.


	12. Chapter 12

Daichi spent the night laying on the top of the roofs of the academy. The night was too warm to not enjoy the remnants of deserting hot over there, even if he had to dress to stay outside. The night was dull compared to the desert's one , but it still brought peace to his mind who seemed to be on constant run for past few weeks.

Why did he have to be assigned to women all the time? Why the time has to run so slowly? He wanted to take the Kazekage exam so bad. Why did the Third not answer to his last two letters? He was always so punctual… And the most annoying and important one…

…what does she think of me?

It was stupid and he knew it was, because knowing how her eyes just slid, empty over his figure he couldn't expect anything from the girl he mistook for a boy once. But like a sticky piece of poo that never really wanted to come off once it got stuck to your shoes, it didn't want to go away and one by one, reminded himself about it. Her. Minato. Or was it Minako? No. Minato was just fine. She was beautiful. Beautiful and cold, just like the starry sky. Like the pale Moon hanged above his head…

Beautiful, cold and distant. Like a jewel between the Third's lips. Suna-nins pierced the strangest part of their bodies. His earrings, that seemed to be so weird for many Konohan's and completely ridiculous to people from cold countries, where jewelry was an obstacle and people long forgot it could be a decoration, were actually pretty innocent and funny when he walked during the armies of ninjas his age. The Third had the tiny hole on his tongue, and from time to time liked to hold a piece of light blue stone get in there – so it blinked like a piece of ice, completely out of reach for anyone, beside the Third himself. On especially hot days on the desert it taunted him and seemed to turn into piece of real ice.

'You see it, Daichi?' it seemed to say as dark eyes of the man pierced his weak body that collapsed under the heat 'I am something that you desperately wish to have and you will never obtain… because you are weak. Only strong men can stay straight and drink from eternal ice.' And when he fainted, the idea that maybe, just maybe the Third was just as thirsty as everyone else, seemed to be completely ridiculous and full of insanity. Minato was just like this piece of jewelry. Cold, beautiful and completely not his. That was depressing.

He chewed on his lower lip, observing the Moon, not even noticing how it turned into the sun, blending into the bright morning. When the first loud birds quacked at him, he shuddered like if someone had suddenly screamed right to his ears. 'I hate ice.' He said, when his eyes reached the sky after a moment of lost thoughts and didn't find any 'I hate it.' Because he wanted some. After a moment of green, vicious jealousy of a man who could reach and drink from eternal beauty of the girl he could not glance at, he returned to his room and lied on bed. Eventually, he needed to sleep. After a few minutes, he was out like a candle.

Sakumo was more than a little worried. That wasn't anything new in his life, being captain of ANBU's largest team, Konoha's top ranked ninja and as such responsible for everyone from his village in the academy and with a kid no older than three at home and being constantly too far away to do any good as a father, one tended to make worrying a second nature. Minato had been largely a cause of those worries; first and foremost because of her age.

Sakumo was aware that because of how short staffed they were, the limits of the ages where the ninja could be psychologically deemed fit to take the tasks they had had been radically lowered. Fifteen was still too young to be in the assassination's squad, or so he had kept thinking when he'd seen the young girl's lack of interest in socializing with the group. Minato obeyed orders perfectly and he could never could have blamed her for insubordination, she had taken each and every mission flawlessly, but then he'd caught sight of her nails –most often than not bitten down to the quick, with the cuticles and surrounding flesh as raw as freshly cut beef- and he'd worry. He'd worry a lot. He worried even more when he saw that the girl was back, more battered up than her last mission would

He worried even more when he saw that the girl was back, more battered up than her last mission would have warranted and a lot faster than it should have been. 'I rushed,' she said with a sunny smile as one of the nurses finished wrapping a bandage on the larger cuts she had on her forearm. He liked that smile the least of all. Minato only ever seemed to have that Christmas-come-early expression when she was going to do something that would make someone suffer. He just didn't know how many she was aiming at this time.

Kushina didn't know what to think. As it turned out, that girl had come explicitly because the Tsuchikage had personally asked all villages before them and it was apparently Konoha's turn to give a hand to try and tame them, but that completely negated the girl's attitude towards them. She'd explicitly said she didn't care for their obedience, and she hadn't really given them any more missions –or gone on any of her own- since she got back. In fact, she always seemed to be running back and forth the hospital, the Tsuchikage's office and her own room without much pause for anything else- Except, well.. running. That girl really liked to run.

Whenever she wasn't busy doing what appeared to be insane amounts of paperwork, Minato was on the field running like a mad person (which she probably was) and usually doing it nonstop. She'd once stayed the whole day and the girl had only stopped long enough to puke, wash her mouth, then kept running. Which proved her theory that Daichi must have been head over heels in love with her, because she was obviously missing a few too many ducklings on the mental line.

'Weirdo.'

And Daichi wasn't much help either, just moping around and doing nothing and not telling her anything of substance to figure out what the hell Blondie wanted from them. Still, she hadn't been prepared for the fact when she returned from her last C rank mission, where she'd gone for a quick dash of cash, she'd find the payroll office closed. Still, she couldn't have been blamed for not relating one and another, right?

'This is insane.' Minato nibbled delicately on her tea biscuit and didn't reply. The tone which the Tsuchikage had just employed was flat enough not to make her able to discern what did he think of the stack of reports she'd managed to put together in the past fifty days, so she thought better not to say anything at all and wait for more answers. The answers took a very long time to come, so she kept busy with her tea. She'd finally managed to have everything ready and arrange for a meeting with the Tsuchikage, his secretary the head of payroll and her own private accountant, the yellow frog she'd been regularly summoning for the pasts several weeks to speed things up

'…it's true.' At least they had of accountant seemed to agree. He leafed through some of the pages. 'This is just…'

'Horrifying.' Shukei blew some smoke from his pipe, and as usual Minato wondered how frogs managed so well without any real lips to speak of. 'You should have paid more attention.' Minato refilled her cup and poured about three spoonfuls of sugar, then shrugged and added a fourth. 'So, you are suggesting….?'

'We… need to discuss this.' The secretary kept leafing through the reports back and forth, as if she wanted to make sure they were right. 'Are you positive all of this is accurate.'

'Madam, this is what I've been doing for a living for the past ninety years.' the large frog said somewhat petulantly. The sag of skin under its mouth bubbled up for a moment then deflated as he blew the smoke 'I'd like to think I have more a notion about this than you.' More silence, only broken by the constant shuffling of papers being moved back and forth between the members of the table. Finally, the older man looked up.

'…how much?' Nothing in this life could be free. A chance of finally ridding himself of those two couldn't be cheap, either. Minato took a sip from her cup.

'How much sake do you keep around, Tsuchikage-sama?' The man stared at the small girls for several seconds, then broke into an evil smirk, turning towards his secretary. 'Call the councilors. From now on and until the meeting is over, all members of the Villages of hidden Water and Sand are forbidden of receiving any payment.'

The first thing Daichi heard after waking up was howl. Not a howl of a dog. Now even the painful long moan of a wild moose. It was amore of a rage scream. Of a beast. Big, bad scary beast… He harrumphed, clearing his throat only slightly, not really aware of his surroundings as he listened to the strange loud growl that didn't seem to lower down or burst, only buzzed like if he lied under the tree full of bees. It was nice to stay in this lethargic place of not knowing, but it was quickly ended as the glass of his window broke and shattered in tiny irregular shards, waking him up with a kunai between his teeth.

'Daichi! Daichi-sama!' howled the known voice of Baki from under his window 'We know you're there! Come down quick!' Daichi blinked, then slowly lowered his feet on the ground from the bed, barely missing the line where the tiniest shards of glass landed. Now the mysterious buzz had turned into a big fat growl, but not of one beast, but many. It was a murmur of many angered male chests. It howled in protest. People were protesting.

Suddenly, he had very bad feeling about this. For some unexplainable reason he felt that whatever was happening, he shouldn't have reached out from the place he was in. He was supposed to stay here, maybe under the bed and count the dots on the floor. Or, in the more desirable side – pack and flee with a kunai between his teeth. But when the second and third stone broke through his window, all his seven senses were dulled by simple curiosity that killed less stupid and more experienced in the past. He looked out of the window.

Indeed, there was his Suna pack of 'friends', as he liked… should've… was supposed to call them. Deep inside they all knew they it was not completely right as he was already a new kind of model and his aims reached higher than any of them. So the line was drawn long ago. But still, they were there. 'What's going on?' he asked, looking at the pale, angered faces, and one a bit more nervous, belonging to female twin. 'Riot.' Said Yashamaru, looking at him with serious face 'People from Sand and Water country are being pushed away from the bureau and get paid no money for their missions.'

'What?' he asked, once again feeling the alarming bells on the back of his head 'What do you mean by that?'

'He means' said Baki, looking at him with scrunched eyebrows and tightly shut lips 'That it's no good. And you know what's the worst, Daichi-sama?' He moved his head left and right, showing that no, he didn't. And for some reason, he didn't want to know. But it was already too late to flee. 'They say it's all your fault.'

The only reason there had been no casualties so far was because the ninja from Rock, Thunder and Lead outnumbered the ones from Suna and Water, not for lack of trying. As it was, it would probably be a long night in the hospital already, but Tsunade had not only one but two bottles of insanely expensive sake to anesthetize her through it, and if all went according to plan, she'd have even more by the time they were through with all.

Speaking of time, the meeting took a very long amount of it to enter, during which the collective mood fluctuated from bad to horrible to hostile to murderous with very little change of each faction. As it was, by the time the representative captains from Sand and Water were called in, it was little wonder than Shiki Terumi was dragging her charge by the hair, with the rose-haired Kunoichi not so much as uttering a word or looking up from the long curtain of hair partially covering her face. If the hand she kept pressed to her nose was any indication, her comrades had heard the news and hadn't been satisfied of her claims of having no idea what had caused this.

'I expect to receive some sort of explanation on regards of this situation, Tsuchikage-sama,' the dark haired woman said coolly, the polite cover in her voice so thin it would have probably collapsed just from air had it been a physical thing. 'Of course, Terumi-san.' the shorter man said pleasantly, indicating the newly added seats to the already crowded table. 'That's why all of you have been summoned.'

The Third only rose his elegant eyebrows which meant he was both outraged and furious. He sat there from quite some time – an activity he was not planning to give in or even attend. Simply, because he didn't want to waste time on whatever was happening there. The politic of not dirtying hands was doing quite well since he closed the lines that lied in-between the both raging countries and he planned to keep it that way. Until he suddenly was disturbed by urgent messages of coming back to the place because his white clean hands in smooth gloves suddenly came out rotting and full of worms that ate on his flesh. All because of one burning point he forgot to cure before he wore the gloves. It's name was Sabaku no Daichi.

The situation of the boy he was left and put in made him so dumbstruck and mad at the same time he couldn't even decide to go for the boy, not knowing if to stand with or against him. Daichi was his personal favorite pet, just as Chinese dog would be for old aunt who had no husband and children. He favorized him and tended him to be the might leader once he would go away from the stool. So he really, really didn't want to stand against the boy. But this time, the doggie had overstepped the line and peed just on wires of fire alarm, so it didn't ring on time. Half of his money suddenly burned down to ashes. He couldn't look at him so he didn't call him to the place of the meeting. Yet.

His eyes shot to the red-haired girl that was moved to the room inside with the dark-haired woman. If he knew right, that was supposed to be Daichi's teammate. And that… was supposed to be a woman. With that loose skirt he had no problem recognizing where her nipples actually were. He didn't like that. The stone in his mouth crunched dangerously as it accidentally got between his teeth which were clenching unconsciously as other muscles stayed still. He blinked and let it go. It was too expensive to bite through it and swallow like if it was made of sugar. He waited for explanation.

The Tsuchikage seemed to enjoy waiting for the secretaries to bring in some refreshments, considering the kind of guests he was attending, which meant some very unnecessary minutes of perfect silence and his councilors pretending to be unaffected by the Kazekage and Terumi's glare. He definitely had to get them a raise sooner than later. 'Yes, I've had enough water, thank you.' the woman said giving him a smile that would probably make a jackal whimper and flee. 'Now, on regards of why we aren't getting the money you owe us, Tsuchikage-sama?'

'I was about to get to that, Terumi-san,' the main said seriously, one hand reaching to stroke his short beard. 'Neither of your villages are getting what, as you seem to think, we 'owe' because, as a matter of fact… You owe this academy.' a muscle twitched on the corner on his mouth. 'Quite a large one, I might add.'

'We don't owe it anything.' Said the Third, not even uttering a blink. He was sure of it as he was sure that he wore ring on his middle finger or that someone was going to end up in hospital by the end of the day and it wasn't him. He didn't stop piercing the man with his clear gaze like if he didn't even speak up. 'What's the real reason of this ruckus?'

'Well, in your case you are absolutely right, Kazekage-sama.' The old man said pleasantly, somehow managing to quench the urge to smile at the youngster.

'What? Then how-' he stopped the woman mid rant by his next words. 'Technically Suna itself doesn't really owe us any money… But Fire country's Daimyo does. That's the standard issue for Kage trainees, is that not?'

'Whatever Fire country does is not our problem.' Said the Third sharply, like if he was cutting himself out of the topic with a knife 'Wind country doesn't and that's the point. I don't understand the problem. Do enlighten me, Tsuchikage-sama.'

It took him a moment to gather his cool for what he sensed would probably be the highlight of his retirement. Proven he lived through a very possible and immediate assassination attempt. '…it has been brought to our attention that both of your charges have, in the past three years alone, caused more of a… what the word?'

'Budget deficit'?' the accountant next to him nodded briskly, so he supposed it was right.

'More of a defect on the academy's budget than any actual aid to it.'

'This Academy has been getting more money each year, Tsuchikage-sama,' Kishi said, finally releasing Kushina's hair, even though the Kunoichi didn't look up or otherwise move away from within range of a new grasp. 'Our Mizukage gets the same reports every village does.' 'I'm not discussing that, Terumi-san, but comparing how much money they are costing the academy itself and the villages individually, they are by far indebted.'

The Third's eyebrows once again rose, then, delicately, like first snowflakes of upcoming storm, the fell down and smudged into a line that marred his looks. 'From my private knowledge I know that Sabaku no Daichi had been living like every Suna nin should.' He said slowly, like if the man was mentally handicapped 'Which means ascetic and strict. I'm sure his habits didn't cost all that much that he couldn't fill it with what he brought back to it from his missions.'

The old man had only cleared his throat at that, making Kazekage wait some more

'Let's start with the individual debts.'

'And to my knowledge, Uzumaki has never fallen behind on her payments either.' This time the Tsuchikage smiled. 'As you've both been so kind as to bring up the matter of missions, maybe we should start with those, shouldn't we?' he leafed through what looked like a rather large stack of papers until he found the one he wanted while his secretaries hurried to leave copies of the documents in front of both the guests.

'I wouldn't dream of, Terumi-san. As you are so eager,' and as he wanted to make the 'How many missions have been assigned in the past three years to the multiple teams that Uzumaki Kushina and Sabaku no Daichi belonged to, regardless of rank?'

'119, Tsuchikage-sama.'

'How many of those were actually succeeded by whatever group they were at the time.'

'By Uzumaki and Sabaku plus the designed captain…' the man cleared his throat lightly. '9, Tsuchikage-sama.'

At that, the Third abruptly stood from the chair. His features showed nothing more than shining depths of lake that reflected the storm coming. 'Do excuse me.' He said after a moment of silence which he spent on looking at the old man searching for any signs of joke. Then he turned on his heel and vanished in the swirl of iron sand.

The Tsuchikage stared. 'I'm afraid we will have to wait for his return, Terumi-san.' the man said, even though the dark haired woman seemed to be too busy leafing through the documents she'd been given, if the pallor of her face was any sort of clue. 'Would you care for tea?'

They didn't have to wait long. Just when the secretary was about to pour the water into the decorative mugs, the Third reappeared in the same spot in just fierce cloud of the black sand. Some of it fell into his own cup, but he didn't even care to notice. Nor the person he held by his throat did.

'I'm sorry.' He said in a soft, almost unhearable voice, then marched toward his spot, dragging Daichi behind him, who not only had to follow backwards, but looked like if he was about to choke from the lack of oxygen – his face looked purple and he had opened mouth that moved like if he was trying to breathe and couldn't. Third wordlessly readjusted the hold into the back side of his neck and slammed his face into the desk with such a hard force that massive amount of papers jumped up from the surface in nervous physical reaction. Daichi let out the slightest of whimpers.

The Third looked at him like if he was looking at the insect who was interrupting him while he was writing new haiku, and then, squeezed the hold on the neck tighter and slammed his face into the table once again, with the same force. Even if it looked just as painful and it probably was, considering that Daichi was hit again on the same, already tender spot, the boy didn't even spill the exchange of oxygen. The Third seemed to be satisfied with that. 'I'm sorry.' He repeated, looking at the Tsuchikage with calm expression 'It seems I'm a bit tired and I didn't really hear what was said before. Could you please repeat last two sentences?'

Kushina flinched, a flash of panicked blue through long strands of messed up hair, but didn't actually emit a noise. The Tsuchikage nodded as if his own papers hadn't just been stained by some of the spilled blood. What an hypocrite, as if he hadn't given the poor, stupid boy carte blanche for all of this. 'Of course, Kazekage-sama. As I was saying, according to the recovered Data, from a total of 119 missions in the past three years, the groups containing Uzumaki Kushina, Sabaku no Daichi and whatever captain the happened to have at the time ascends to a total of 9. If we may continue?'

The Third nodded curtly, looking at the old man with eyes that became more and more dark. Then he leaned down to the boy, like a mother would lean to the small child. 'You'd better have good explanation for that.' He muttered. After a moment of silence, where Daichi didn't respond, he backed again to his straight position. Daichi's shoulders started to shudder lightly. The tight hold on his neck pained him like if Kage's hold was made from burning iron.

'Continuing on the records… how many were completed by Uzumaki and Sabaku, without the captain in charge?'

'34, Tsuchikage-sama.'

'How many were completed by Uzumaki Kushina on her own?'

'135, Tsuchikage-sama.'

'By Sabaku-no Daichi on his own?'

'204, Tsuchikage-sama.'

'From the missions Uzumaki Kushina took in the past three years, how many were far below her rank?'

'Uzumaki-Kushina has taken in the past three years 15 D ranked missions and 138C ranked ones, Tsuchikage-sama.'

'Sabaku no Daichi has never taken any missions below B rank, so we shall continue…' he leafed through some more pages. 'How many missions were turned down by Sabaku no Daichi?'

'225, Tsuchikage-sama.' 'How many missions were turned down by Uzumaki Kushina?'

'304, Tsuchikage-sama.' The short man nodded, looking some more through the papers. 'Am I missing anything?'

'You…' Kishi brushed a few strands of hair from her face. 'You can't possibly put us to blame for your inability to deal with them. If they'd had the discipline-'

'As a matter of fact, I can, Terumi-san,' the older man said gravelly. 'I understand that both Uzumaki and Sabaku have had captains of their own villages at different times and none of them were able to discipline them, either.' The fact he managed to say the word without actually making it sound sarcastic was certainly a statement to his years as a politician. 'But even if we were to ignore that, let's move on to the matter of importance, those debts…'

An impressive number, no one could deny that- then again, A ranked missions paid well. 'How much money has Sabaku no Daichi brought into the collective funds that support the academy on the past three years, without counting the percentage sent to Water?'

'I want to repeat. From a total of 382 missions, not counting the C and D ranked ones, how many times did Uzumaki Kushina cash in for her missions?'

'…382 times, Tsuchikage-sama.'

'What about Sabaku no Daichi?'

'382, Tsuchikage-sama.'

'How many mission did Sabaku no Daichi and Uzumaki Kushina actually complete together, including the ones with their captain?'

'43, Tsuchikage-sama.'

At those words the cup on the Third's desk moved strangely as the whole surface of the table moved for a moment. The Third acted like if he didn't see any of that, staring at the Tsuchikage like if he was made of bread and like if he hadn't eaten for days. Only when the secretary gave the pinpointed look at Daichi he blinked and looked down. The teen's skin was whole gray and his shoulders now shook quite visibly. Without doubt it was his reaction that moved the glass on the table.

The Third let go of Daichi, then, after a moment of thought, when the shoulders of youngster had relaxed, he caught him again, this time in much more firm grip. Daichi moved his back up, like if he wanted to get out from the steely trap, and… he froze in the middle of the move, neither resting nor escaping the grip. It seemed to be very uncomfortable just by the look of it. The Third once again was ignoring the youngster. Daichi felt the inventible urge to scream. He couldn't cry. He could do everything, but he couldn't cry. His tears, even out of pain, would be a dishonor that nothing would save him from that. But it was easier said than done. The hold put a strain on his muscles in a way he never thought it was possible to feel. He swallowed saliva quietly.

'Go on.' Said the Third, aware of that and ignoring it all at the same time.

The woman next to them gave the pair a look, as if she couldn't figure out what they were doing or why they even were there in the first place, then went back to looking at her papers. In the meantime, Kushina was trying very hard to choke on her own heart. Technically it couldn't be that hard right? The unreasonably, inhumanly loud beating should totally mean she could, and yet it wasn't enough to drown out the words. And there was more, dear Sacred Waters, there was more, and what of, she didn't even want to think about… But this meant they were dead. She already had enough enemies from her own country without needing any help, but this? They'd lynch her. They'd find her cold body at the bottom of a lake.

This wasn't fair. Everyone knew they were doing it to start with, they were just too scared to say anything about it! Other people did it too, so why were they here instead of someone else?

'Now, moving on regards of damages… We are going to list the damages done to the facilities.'

'You are going to blame my Village for the things they broke during training?' the woman said with a small chuckle that sounded a little far off to her own ears. These numbers…

'Not at all, Terumi-san… As you know, the Academy's is ready to cover expanses done to training grounds with the money the shinobi themselves bring in.'

'…then?'

She might as well ask, it's not like if the man had any intention of sparing them.

''Then we will be revising the matters of the two fires that Uzumaki Kushina caused in the past three years-'

'She's already been properly punished for those!'

'And yet her attitude hasn't changed, so I daresay your methods of punishment aren't the most effective around.'

'You have no right to say that,' the woman whispered darkly, brown eyes gleaming darkly between her bangs.

'I wouldn't, if I didn't have proof. Just naming the most recent incident?' he pushed a paper in her direction. 'A month ago, Uzumaki Kushina had to be accepted into the hospital with a severe case of poisoning. The medical staff found her trying to break into her captain's rooms with a bag containing several explosives as well as booby traps…' Kushina tried to block out the talk. Really, she tried very hard. Each sounded like a new shovelful of dirt on her grave.

'And as for the young protégée of the Sand Country.' said the woman, turning this time toward the pair of two men. The Third didn't move. Only his eyes observed the woman like if she was a piece of meat he would eat raw if he could. Literally. 'His lack of containing temper consist on broken tables at the dining room, as well as walls – on his own, two rooms of ninja from Suna and one from ninja from Grass Village…'

'It was just a bet!' said Daichi – or rather – wanted to say, but the Third's fingers suddenly grew into his skin like nails into the wood and closed his mouth completely '…captain's room and headmaster's office, broken furniture he tossed out of anger, payment for health of people he battled with – that consists of 382 broken ribs, 282 broken arms and 167 broken legs…'

'Peachy.' Said the Third, and Daichi curled in himself. It was all he could do as in reality he was paralyzed 'Of course, they were all honorable battles.'

'Actually no, only 34 of them-'

'I know that already!' said the Third, raising his voice for the first time. The secretary quieted down as the man cleared his throat lightly 'Continue.'

'Mental health of two ninjas, broken materials during fight, sneaking out of the village…'

'Wait. How does that measures with costs?'

'He did that while breaking up any possible hindrances and walls.' The Third quieted down for a moment. 'Impressive.' He said. But for some reason, Daichi felt that he was not proud at all.

'On regards of the physical damages…' the Tsuchikage said, giving the boy the man held a look. 'As you can see by the medical records, some of those with the worst ones were ninja far below his rank, all from villages not his own. Could we have an explanation on regards of that?' He might as well do something before the Kazekage accidentally wring the boy's neck. Not that it would be too much a loss, but stains in the carpet really were too hard to take care of.

In the answer, the Third automatically rose his occupied hand, making Daichi face everyone in room in painful writhe of the spine. Daichi clenched his teeth, oblivious to the fact his left side if the face was whole bruised and made him look like if he decided to pour some strange violet make up on it. He looked at everyone in the room in silence as helpless as kitten that was brought up by the neck. And ironically, it was what the Kage did, bending him a little too much backward.

'Speak.' Said the Third in sharp tone, shaking him lightly. But even the insignificant move awoke the paralyzed muscles on his neck and made it screaming with blazing pain of body that had the circulation cut off from it.

'That was…' he said, then licked his lips out of nerves. Both his mouth and tongue felt dry as desert '…accident.'

'Obviously.' Said Third without the slightest tone of sarcasm, like if he was thanking him for the rest of money being given in the shop. Dully and completely disinterested. And then, without a warning, slammed his head back on the table again. Daichi groaned out of pain that felt much worse now, but the Third only rose him once again and slammed him again there, like if after the first time Daichi didn't end up well positioned on the surface. Daichi almost bit through his tongue on that. 'Please, continue.'

'What I want to understand is why was he fighting with them so seriously, considering that it's been brought to our attention that Sabaku is far above chuunin and even jounin level… isn't that right? One normally stops sparring once your adversary is unconscious.'

'Sabaku no Daichi is already far beyond the jounin level and he would not be allowed to take chuunin exams in fear of 98% possibility of massive murder made on other participants and only 41% of possibility of stopping him if he, by some reason, decided to murder other people. The possibility lowers to 3% if Kazekage would be away. Besides, it's a simple waste of time.'

'I believe that there is some sort of explanation.' Said Third and pushed the boy's head toward the desk only a bit harder, making it shut between his hand and the table like in the big vise. 'They wanted… t-togggh-' said Daichi and started choking on his own words. The Third for a moment ignored it, then let go a bit. Daichi breathed and resumed like if nothing has happened. '…me. They wanted to fight me seriously. So I did.' He muttered. The Third didn't react to those words physically. 'You've got your response.' He muttered quietly.

'That still doesn't explain why you kept attacking them after they lost consciousness or admitted defeat.' the Tsuchikage answered coldly, not satisfied with the answer he got. 'How many missions do we have in record from chuunin and jounin that couldn't take any missions because Sabaku no Daichi kept assaulting them after the match was over?' he turned to his secretary. 'Discounting the ones that couldn't make complete recoveries, please.'

Daichi didn't answer. Even when the Third rose him up from his position to face the Tsuchikage again, he only clenched his teeth in pain, but his lips kept being sealed shut. What was he supposed to say? That they laughed at him, because he was Suna nin? Because he mistook Minato for a boy? Because they pointed a finger at them and talked about her like if that was some kind of joke, 'his Minato'? He always wanted to just teach them a lesson or two, but it was so hard to stop once he started. All anger and disappointment just wanted to get out somehow… and he had too much of it to just give those noobs a few kicks and go away. The Third shook him like a doll. All his bones rattled like if he was made of shattered glass. He closed his eyes, then looked at the Third.

'They said that Wind Country's Kazekage is a wimp.' He said quietly 'So I made it sure they remembered how a mere trainee of his could bite,' The Third looked into his eyes with calm, almost serene gaze. He lied and he knew that. He knew that very well. But the slightest nerve on his face didn't admit to that. Once again, Daichi landed on the table with the sickening crunch. 'Very well.' Said the Third with the same dry tone 'As you can see, he was defending my honor. I'm grateful.' And with those words, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became more heavy, because just then, the Third shot a first threat. Suna's honor was one of the most important things to them, just as was friendship to Konoha or loyalty to Waves Country. Anyone who stood against that, stood against them all.

But somehow, in all this protection, Daichi never felt more worthless. He knew he didn't deserve that for the lies he said.

'Really.' the older man didn't even try to make it seem as if he were sarcastic, his tone alone clearly indicated he hadn't bought a single word. 'I'm sure you'll be grateful to cover those expanses, then?' This time the accountants slid a single paper sheet in the direction of both dark haired nin. Kishi stared at it, and even with the paper demurely turned down, she could tell there were things that had been written in dark red- highlighted by it, more like highlighting it. Kushina suddenly wished she could switch places with Daichi. Surely the Kazekage would be even more brutish on regards of her gender and at least she'd be dead before any of this came to an end.

'As you might know, Kazekage-sama, Terumi-san, this isn't really an academy, we just work it like if it were one. This is an alliance. Each of our countries agreed there was no way any of us could have survived on our own, so we sent our best here and split the missions fairly.' The villages themselves were still taking individual missions, but they only did it when they were much closer than the main grounds of the academy were, when it was private matters concerning the village.

'Each mission we had to turn down due lack of manpower went to the village that was closest and as such, there was no money sent to the other four. Each shinobi they tortured one way or another couldn't also bring money in. Each of those person also had to be hospitalized. On that paper you will find, among other things, the amount we finally calculate we had to spend on victims of these two, individually. And those are only the ones we have record of and can prove were caused by them.'

'Prove it,' the woman repeated mechanically, her eyes sliding over the cowering form of the kunoichi next to her. Kushina hid even more under her own hair, shoulders shaking slightly. Kishi didn't even try to reach for the paper yet. Kushina might not be as much a brute as her little friend, but she had also caused more extensive damage to the grounds themselves. How much more expensive than medical bills could infrastructure be? Not much. Unless it was a facility especially built for sustain sieges and the hypothetical war, then the values skyrocketed a little. 'Witnesses, medical proof.' The secretary supplied. Kishi didn't ask anything else. Like a cheap horror movie, the man continued.

'And that's only those that could return to shinobi duties afterwards. Even discounting the ones that had… minor losses.' - which was how shinobi treated just one missing limb, eye, needless lobe of the brain – 'Each of them have been responsible to end the careers of at least two shinobi. They have been forced to resume a civilian life and more importantly, are no longer able to perform services for their villages.'

'Aoki-san can't even hear the word 'tentacle' without having a breakdown…' someone muttered, causing the older man to turn and glare at having been interrupted. Kushina tried to fold a little more on herself.

'They also now have to be maintained by their own villages.' Which cost money. The man folded his hands over his large stomach, lacing the fingers 'When we signed that alliance, we agreed to a cease of hostilities between us.'

'There's always been hostilities between all villages,' the woman said flatly. She wasn't going to make such a careless display of lack of emotional training as Suna's Kazekage was, but it was proving very hard not to drag the little bitch to one corner and beat her black and blue. How many times had she been reprimanded for such things? They should have knows she'd cause something like this eventually, why hadn't they kicked her off when they had the chance?

'There's been hostilities, indeed, Terumi-san,' the man ground out. 'There's been physical violence, but nothing quite as extreme as what these two do. My councilors and I have been looking into the matter. With all they have caused, this could easily be classified as sabotage.' And that meant that unless they could convince the man not to press this information to the daimyo's, both Sand and Water would be taken out of the alliance.

The Third didn't move at that, nor did he speak, slowly progressing the information. But Daichi knew that what he heard was not something that either he or Kushina were supposed to know – not yet for him, at least. Suddenly, all what he did in the academy seemed like the idiocy of biggest kinds. If he knew… how serious it could have been…

'I'll…' he muttered quietly from his position 'I'll pay it by myself…' The Third only turned his head around so the table blocked his mouth. The message was more than clear: don't speak. Or rather: shut your stupid trap.

'I see.' He said finally carefully and slowly took out the light fan from under his obi. It didn't get unfolded, but the lightly decorated brim of it landed on the edge of the older man's mouth, suggesting that he considered opening it. In the usual language it came out as the moment in which the Third suggested hostility and threats. Only Daichi knew that the fan he was about to open truly meant insecurity – the thin wall from unfolded rice paper covered in drawings also let him hid his face and chew nervously on his lips – which was a big reliever considering he couldn't move a muscle in the biggest stress. It wasn't looking very good.

Kishi didn't move at the movement, just brushed some more of her bangs off her bangs and tried to will her mind to work. What was she going to tell her team? What was she going to tell her husband? Hell, what was she going to tell her Kage?

'My lord Mizukage, I bide ill news. It seems that little beast from Whirlpool has caused us to be ejected from the biggest financial aid we currently have. There seems no way out of this and even if we sold her into prostitution or traded her limbs in the black market, we wouldn't even cover a small percentage of what she's cost us.'

'The loss of two of the villages composing this alliance wouldn't be any more beneficial to it than it would be to the villages themselves individually.' She said as serenely as she could in such a situation. All she could do – the *only* thing she could do, really - was avoid it at all costs. 'Is there any way to avoid reaching this point, Tsuchikage-sama?'

The old man turned to the prim and almost feminine-looking man that had given them the pages that neither of the accused had yet dared turn around. 'The only way for it to happen would be to pay for all the damages that were incurred and affected the villages, Terumi-sama.' He replied stiffly.

The Third stopped tapping his mouth and looked at the page with numbers. Daichi shuddered, hearing the slightly larger intake of breath and he closed his eyes. That was freaking impossible and he knew that. He already knew that. Kazekage slowly closed his eyes. For a moment he looked like if he was going to keel over. But the fan remained closed. When he opened his eyes, his normal composed look was there again. The fan landed on the table near Daichi's ear with the tap that didn't resemble anything of the hard bashing the boy's head had to take a few minutes ago. 'I can't accept that price.' He said in a calm tone, like if he was talking about buying a piece of bread or two 'Suna village would die out if I did.'

Daichi gritted his teeth and closed his eyes in the silent whimper. He was fucked.

Kishi slowly turned the page and read over the list. It turned out the red-streaked part was the grand total. They'd even made a little list which explained which of the costs belonged to ground damages, hospital bills, cancelled missions…. How helpful. She wanted to agree with the man of Suna, but couldn't quite manage to find her voice. She was so desperate for a solution she initially thought to have imagined the man's words. 'We are willing to reach a compromise, if it interests you.'

'…what kind of compromise.' It's not like if Water had any other options. Paying this amount because of the little bitch had gotten a bit frisky (because they'd been too lenient with her when they should have spaded her long time ago) was completely out of the question. Even so, she couldn't help feeling weary. 'If you would be so kind as to summon Namikaze Minato and captain Hatake Sakumo.'

The Third nodded, still looking at the piece of paper like if by looking it would suddenly change into a butterfly and fly away or maybe just burn in the nearest lamp. Daichi didn't even dare to flinch. He didn't want to be connected with her in any emotional way. If he was lucky enough, the Third had no idea who was she supposed to be to him.

Kushina's eyes snapped open at the mention of the name. Not Konoha's handsome White Fang, but that little underdeveloped freaking bitch. It all fell together with all the grace of an exposition of bone china after an earthquake measured around the highest ranks of disaster. Blondie telling the guards at the gate to record that they hadn't gone to their assigned missions. Blondie making sure she got underpaid –and that Daichi wasn't paid at all. Blondie telling them –outright telling them!- that she would prefer for them not to come to the missions at all and her carrying… so many… papers! The eye that wasn't almost completely swollen shut after the beating fixed in the piles stacked in the desk.

'She…' she rasped. That's as far as she got. Without even looking, Kishi slammed an elbow what seemed to be more or less all the way to half her arm into her midsection. The kunoichi fell down doubled on herself a moment later, pomegranate-red hair spilling on the floor. 'Keep quiet, Uzumaki we are on a meeting.' She said serenely, her eyes still looking at the numbers on the page. Kushina didn't respond, and save from rocking on herself once or twice, didn't make any other sound.

It was a moment later that the pair of Konoha jounin got into the room. 'Tsuchikage-sama.' They greeted formally, repeating the honors for the Kazekage, not that he seemed interested on any of it. Sakumo couldn't blame him. Unlike the other people outside he actually knew why Suna and Mizu weren't getting their payment. He'd been horrified to find out it had been all Minato's doing, Minato's little, brilliant mind and her blatant talent for what could only be described as sadism behind this disaster.

Not that it hadn't been well thought and flawlessly executed, in fact, he could have admired it if it had been anyone else. The problem was it was Minato, who he had promised Jiraiya-sama he would do his best to keep safe and who might very likely be horribly murdered very, very soon. Please, let her have figured out some very convincing argument against killing her. Minato, who unlike the older man didn't just look calm but also was, finally straightened her back and gave a look at the state the redheads had been put to. Kushina's was hard to determine from her position, but Daichi…

Her eyes went back to the older man, who was smiling at her in a way that could almost be called affectionate. Well, she couldn't say that bringing the Kazekage in had been in her plans, she had counted with it just being Suna's representative captain. It was all Daichi's fault in the first place, though, so she could hardly be called guilty about it. As a trainee for Kazekage, he should have taken his duties much more seriously. 'Namikaze-san, Hatake-san, thank you for coming. I was just commenting to both Kazekage-sama and Terumi-san that proposition you offered as a means of repayment.'

'Yes, Tsuchikage-sama?' At the man's humoring nod and ignoring the warning look her captain sent her, the blonde nodded back. 'Bluntly, my suggestion was to make both Sabaku-sama and Uzumaki-san pay for their debts.'

'There's no logical way they can pay for them,' the dark-haired captain noted, haven't turned around to pierce the girls with her eyes. 'Of course there is. If the board is willing, they would cease to be working for their individual villages and instead shift to work for the academy itself until the debt is covered. They would also cease to receive payment for completing missions and instead get their meals and rooming for free. '

'That's still too large a debt.' Even if those kids started breathing A ranked missions… 'At least half of the deficit comes from damages to infrastructure and hospital bills. I have already spoken with Tsunade-sama, who is in charge of the hospital. Those bills can be negated proven they work in the hospital the amount of weekly hours Tsunade-sama considers appropriate until they have worked their debt out.'

'And the buildings?'

'Maybe they don't really know how to repair them yet, but they could learn. That would reduce costs.'

The Third didn't seem to be very interested in what was said as his face just stilled into a thick mask. Only his eyes moved along the movement of lips of the little blonde. Was she supposed to be the captain of the team? Why was she so small and young? He knew better than to judge by looks, but he couldn't feel slightly nervous when he looked at her. No wonder that Daichi didn't acknowledge her. It was the type he had problems accommodating to also. 'That sounds reasonable for someone who has time.' He said in a smooth tone 'Sabaku doesn't have it and he is supposed to stay in shape to that moment. This is not a healthy pace.'

'He also had a lot of debts he caused himself to pay, Kazekage-sama.' The blonde replied calmly. 'But on regards of that, I assure you Tsunade-sama is the top physician on the grounds and on Fire country. I assure you that Sabaku-sama's health will be kept in mind when his schedule is prepared.' 'And would that cover all of it?' Would that free her village of the debt? If so, she was ready to sell Uzumaki and her unborn young along with anything else that blonde wanted if it meant this horrible business could be over without having to lead to political disaster. 'It depends entirely of them.' A pause. 'As their captain, I'm also willing to help them with a percentage of my gains.'

The Third closed his eyes again. There really wasn't anything to dispute over here. 'Sand Village will support Sabaku no Daichi on his way there.'

'Isn't there some sort of catch?' Kishi asked, still not really believing the disaster that had happened could be so easy to solve. Well… should anything happen other than mission-earned wounds to either Sabaku-sama or Uzumaki-san that keeps them from being able to perform those additional duties, I daresay that the villages would have to reassume the actual payment.' Her eyes went first to Kushina, then fixed on the hand the Kazekage kept on the red-haired male. She actually intended this comment for them to let their teams know that they better not mess with them, but she should probably mention it now, as their leaders seemed to be just as likely to murder them before time.

'In that case' Sakumo added. 'I would like to request that should anything happen to Namikaze Minato, this whole arrangement is to be called off.' If Minato wasn't going to do anything to keep her own charges from hacking her to pieces, he'd have to do it himself. Minato, of course, looking surprised at him, but thankfully knew better than to say something as stupid as it not being needed. 'That's hardly something that needs to be stated, boy,' the Tsuchikage said calmly, reaching for his pipe and litting it. 'I don't think there's anyone else in the grounds that would be willing to vouche for them.'

'Very well.' Said the Third, but didn't move and inch from his position, making it impossible for Daichi to make any movement 'It might as well be like that.' And he kept looking at her. Daichi deserved the punishment for what he did, there was no way he was getting him off this ship.

'…I have arranged for them to start those turns at the hospital as soon as possible, Kazekage-sama,' Minato, who obviously didn't know when to shut up continued, not flinching at the gaze. 'That means I need the both of them being able to perform tasks and be in control of their chakra. They don't really have much time to lounge around in bed any longer.'

The Third kept looking at her with the interest that was diminishing with every minute. Inside, he was becoming more than annoyed. Why was she telling such minor details out here? 'That's not any of my concern.' He said with a cutting tone, clearly showing her to stop and let the real leaders take the voice in the dispute 'Your duties can be executed later.'

Minato didn't give up still. 'As you might understand, Kazekage-sama, my duties from now on include making sure this debt get paid off. I have better things to do with my time than wait for Sabaku-sama to feel inclined to start working for it. And if he wishes to return to his duties as a Suna nin and actually work for his village, I think he'd better start right now. Two years might not be enough after all.'

The Third tossed the blonde a careful glance, then slowly rose his protégé from the surface of the table. Daichi winced, feeling how his left side of the face started pulsing in the rhythm of beats of his heart. 'Did you miss me?' he asked suddenly, looking into the untouched eye, making it sure that his voice resembled more cooing of a loved member of the family than the steely leader of the country. Which in those lips seemed to be almost grotesque. Daichi blinked, then looked at the blonde, and once again at the Third.

'Yes, sir.' He said in a weak tone. Gods, the man was not happy about what she was trying to pull on him, whatever it was. The Third nodded, then let him fall back with the head on the table – with less force than before, but still, it was not a light hit. He hissed through the teeth. 'Believe me, I know the value of time.' Said the man looking at the blonde with the steely eyes, backing to his sharp tone of voice 'But when it comes to family bonds… everything can wait. You should know about that as a Konohan ninja.'

'Not really, Kazekage-sama, I'm afraid I don't have a family.' The blonde said with a small, sheepish smile. 'And I'm sure as a Kazekage you can have a lot more things accomplished with your time than what I can hope for, but considering I actually like earning money and don't wish to have to pay for your student mistakes for the rest of my life, I would really appreciate him to start working right now.' The Tsuchikage smiled around the tightly clenched pipe between teeth.

'Just give her the boy, Kazekage-sama. I'm sure you can have a family meeting when he goes have that exam of yours. Proven he isn't still hopelessly indebted by then.' Normally, he wouldn't care but this girl had done so much for him already and he hated the Kazekage so much… Kishi finally put down that horrible paper and stood up, her eyes not even touching the still collapsed Kunoichi. 'If you are quite done with this, In the name of the Mizukage, Water country accepts the proposition, Tsuchikage-sama. She's yours, Namikaze-san, use her as you will.' Minato nodded. 'Thank you, Terumi-san, I appreciate your trust.'

The Third obviously was not happy with the outcome that suddenly crossed his plans. He was not planning on staying long, but he also wanted to talk with the boy… in private. But not this time, it seemed. With quick calculation it was obvious he was risking his dignity in the moment. With the slight feeling of disappointment, the clenched hand had finally let go of the abused neck. Tensed muscles didn't relax for another couple of seconds after that. Daichi didn't dare to move.

'Go.' Finally said the Third and opened his fan, moving it lightly, creating a little breeze. Daichi immediately sprung up to the straight position and moved toward the girl. What hurt him the most was the fact that the man didn't even toss him a glance once he let him go. With a pained glare, he rose his eyes toward the blonde and pierced her as hard as he could. 'I'm ready to take your orders.'

Minato nodded, as if that was only what could be expected. 'Then go to the hospital and take Uzumaki with you-' At the words the girl immediately sprung to her feet, wiping furiously at her face to get the drying blood off it. 'I can stand on my own!' she cried, staggering a step or two before finding a step that looked more natural. 'That's wonderful, Uzumaki-san, then please follow Sabaku-sama and go to the infirmary, you'll be receiving your shifts from Tsunade-sensei and working there until I find another sort of job of mission for you to take.' Quickly taking a paper she had kept folded inside her jacket, she gave it to Daichi. 'This is for Tsunade-sensei. Dismissed.'

Already ignoring the retreating pair, she turned to the older man. 'Anything else I can do for you, Tsuchikage-sama?'

'Not unless our honored guest has something to add?' he gave the Third a polite look.

The Third didn't make any actions from what he already did. He just kept on fanning himself, obviously intending for the matter to be looked at as over.

'Dismissed then, the both of you.' Too bad he didn't have some of that nice sake to celebrate… Minato's smile widened a bit, and with another bow, left, Sakumo following behind immediately. Minato would better have some explanations for this.


	13. Chapter 13

'She did this.' Kushina sniffed once out. The sniffing had more to do with a nose that had started leaking a thin trail of blood than actual tears, but she found it to be pathetic nonetheless. 'That's what she's been doing all along. She's been digging up dirt on us since she got here!'

Daichi watched the air in front of him dully, like if he was not really sure where he was. He moved his mouth for a moment, looking like if he was retarded. Then he turned his head toward her. Despite the look of a hardly understanding, his eyes shone with wit. 'What are you talking about?' he muttered hoarsely. His throat still hurt him after the choking.

'She's been hoarding those papers since she got here! Since the first day, she's been… all that information, all that paperwork!' She glared off to one of her teammates, who was glaring daggers at her but obviously wasn't going to do anything to her when in close proximity from Daichi. 'She did it!'

The man turned his eyes toward the back of the blonde with disbelief, watching her walking like if something had suddenly started growing out of her back. 'She?...' he muttered, completely not understanding what was this strange 'it' that Kushina was talking about. His brain was just too shaken for that 'Did it?...' And then it all clicked into place. She did IT. She DID it. SHE did it. She. The cold disappointed face of the Third flashed through his mind and then distant memory of a girl who was still boy to him who he held in his arms… and his still mask on his face suddenly started to break.

He clenched his teeth helplessly, feeling the dullness in the ones that touched the surface of the table and furrowed his eyebrows in the attempt to fall back into the place, but it was futile. His left cheek stung dangerously when the first tear fell out of the brim of his left eye. Second and third were something he didn't even notice. Tears. He was crying. In silence and in public, but it barely mattered, even the fact that the red-haired witch could see that. He just walked, staring at the blonde's back in disbelief and didn't even say a word. She did it. 'It's done.' He muttered back in answer, not really knowing what he was speaking about 'Then if she did it, then it's done.' It always was.

'And she knew we'd get fucked. She already spoke with Tsunade and had those solutions ready! She already had that fucking note written' she pointed at the slip of paper as if it were some tumor that grew out of her teammate's hand. 'And now? Now we are fucked because your ex hates your guts- Daichi?' She finally pushed her hair off her face, revealing just how battered up she really was, not that she seemed to care or notice about the numerous cuts and bruises lathering her face. She'd never in her life seen Daichi cry. Normally she would leap on the chance to mock but now… Well. Considering the situation they were in, that would just make her an ass.

Minato, who had been walking as she talked to her superior, finally sighing tiredly at whatever the other man was saying and turning around. 'I'm going to be more busy than-' she started, her eyes going from Kushina to Daichi and just staying there. 'What's the matter?' she asked, concern lacing her features.

'You can't guess?' Kushina spat irately. 'You fucking ruined our life, what do you think is happening?' Minato looked at her as if she really didn't have a notion of what she had caused.

Despite herself, Kushina felt tears start to sting her eyes, but they were born from frustration, not sadness. That could always come by later. 'What were you thinking? How could you have done such a thing to us?' Minato stared, blue eyes wide. 'What else could I have done? I have a mission to complete. Unlike you two, I take mine seriously.'

'Your mission? I thought we were your mission!'

'Well… now you are.' The blonde said lightly, her eyes going back to Daichi and staying there, still looking surprised and concerned.

'We didn't deserve-'

'But you did.' The blonde interrupted 'Do you think anything in those reports was a lie? You two have been doing nothing but causing monetary losses on the past years and you wanted a prize for it?' her eyes went to Kushina then back to the older male. 'Shinobi are supposed to fight for their villages to the best of their abilities, not just when they feel like it. This isn't a vacational center, it's an academy for the elite and the both you are part of it. If you can't take your duties seriously, you both should have quit and deflected long time ago.'

'The team speaks whole truth about its leader, just as the lower part of the fish can tell you about how the head of the fish looks like.' muttered Daichi looking at the blonde through the curtain of shining, glistening substance of tears 'It simply meant that this academy is not strict enough to take care of every member of this community and in ninja world, it should. And you know what else I'll tell you?...' he muttered, then moved one step closer, not bothering with the fact that everything he just cried out was written on his face just as visibly. 'The fish usually starts to rot from its head. And if you take a fish and cut its head off, both head and body dies. It's complete stupidity for a head to bite off the body by itself, but you know what? That just had happened. Guess who is the head here.' He stared for a moment at her, looking at the genuely a surprised and angered features at the same time. Then he turned his gaze away. 'The mission team had failed. I don't acknowledge you anymore.' He muttered, not knowing why he was doing that to himself. It was obvious that this girl didn't feel a thing for him if she could make him go through such suffering and not even blink. Maybe it was better for himself then?... 'People who don't understand the meaning of co-working are not meant to be shinobi from the beginning. You failed at it, so don't you dare to tell us who should be there and who shouldn't.'

Then, as if he just made a great discovery, he smiled to himself in surprise. 'Bitch, witch and Daichi. Sounds like a freaking haiku.' Then he turned his gaze to her again, this time cold from all anger and bitterness that didn't reach his voice earlier 'Sorry for interruption, captain. Please, lead the way, my deepest apologies for telling you the truth.'

Minato looked at him for a few seconds, her expression unchanging from that slightly worried look. She had no idea why Daichi was telling all of this to her when it was obvious she had just started to fix everything as it should have been. In fact, what she couldn't understand was why Daichi, from all people, had actually gone and done such a thing. That was the only reason she'd actually come back to the academy. Harsh as their last meeting might have been she hadn't know what to think when she'd received the report. Uzumaki she didn't know, but Daichi? Daichi had always taken his life as a shinobi so hard, so seriously.

Despite everything she had sincerely admired the older boy through her time in the academy, and he had been just a strong an influence as her sensei on the shaping her code as a ninja. Her first thought was that Daichi had been killed or kidnapped and someone was impersonating him and no one had noticed out of sheer stupidity. When she'd come here, she hadn't been able to help being sorely disappointed. They might have left in bad terms, but it was one thing to realize Daichi was just like everyone else and wouldn't forgive her to have been born a woman, and another altogether to forget his own moral code. Daichi was set to be Kazekage someday and weather he liked it or not she wasn't going to let him ruin a future she could only envy from afar.

'It's okay.' She finally said, completely disregarding anything the other had said before. 'Just go to the hospital, It seems I have reports to write.' She gave her sensei a look, then back at Daichi. 'If you are feeling unwell, you should tell Tsunade-sensei that before starting… the both of you.'

She was going to fix this because she was the only one who could do it, or at least the only one who cared enough to do it. With one last look at the pair she turned around and followed her tense captain in the direction of the debriefing room. This was going to be a long night.

The redhead didn't move until she had finally vanished from the sight. Then he closed his eyes, letting the last, still tears fall down to the floor. 'Let's go, Kushina.' He muttered and turned around, not trying the slightest to show that anything that happened bothered him in any way. And it did. But when they had reached the hospital's wing, all tears he cried had already dried. Now he only had the darkened mask of a stone monster and didn't seem to be budged by anything at all. Tsunade welcomed them with highly raised eyebrows.

'You need to take care of that.' She said pointing at the violet side of Daichi's face and bruises on the Kushina's arms. 'No, I don't.' muttered the boy with sickening satisfaction, like if the pain made him feel better 'I'm on mission.'

'Then think of it as an order. Then you can go and be a hero while you will be working on cleaning the wounds of Chouza Akimichi.' Daichi didn't argue with that. But when the nurse came to apply the ointment to his bruises, he almost tore it away from her hands and started applying it to himself on his own. 'You're doing it wrong-' said the nurse but he had only threw her a glance and threw the ointment away, as if it burned him. 'I'm done.' He spat angrily, not being half-way treated properly. Then he walked away to the nearest wall and waited for Kushina.

Unlike Daichi, Kushina didn't protest to have her cut and bruises healed, mostly because Daichi was sick enough on the head to think that bruises and scars were pretty. In battlefield, she was willing to overlook the fact nothing could be done because med-nins had better things to make sure she didn't have scratches left in her skin, but while safe at home –or as safe as she would be from now on, with blondie pretty much owning them could ever be- she'd rather be as cleaned up as possible. 'I didn't make jounin to play nurse,' she muttered under her breath as the dark-haired nurse next to her finished wrapping bandages on her neck.

The urge to make a jab at the older man was very strong at the moment, more than anything because she didn't have anyone else to whom to direct her ire to, mad Daichi was a perfect target given the fat all that was happening was his fault. And she was sure she was really, really going to regret not having rubbed it in when she had the chance, yet she couldn't really bring herself to kick him when he was this down. Daichi was waiting for her instead of just leaving on his own or dragging her around. And she had the feeling she better start treating him a bit better, because for awhile, it would probably be just the two of them. 'I'm done too...what now?'

'As I said, remove bandages from Chouza, only be sure he wouldn't move, it would really do no good… for any of you.' Said Tsunade and she walked away, leaving everything on their hands like if everything was clearly explained by now. Daichi looked at the bed where the ninja from Konoha lied, all bandaged up in ribbons of something either thoroughly soaked up or soaking it up on his own. From the smell and color of it, he had unfunny impression it was the latter. And he really would hope he was wrong. But still the way it looked had all signs of well executed jutsu.

'I'm holding the Santa, you're unwrapping the candy.' He threw at the girl, unamused and walked up to the laying body. The other boy seemed to be sleeping, but with being so tightly bandaged like that, it was hard to tell. The odor seemed to get much stronger for his well trained senses.

'Did I ever tell you how much I appreciate your euphemisms at times like this?' Kushina shivered just at the color of the ooze in the bandages. 'Because I do. Nothing cheers me on like some desert-born poetry.'

Most of the ninja from Konoha knew that the reason sennin Jiraiya was currently away and hadn't taken his star pupil with him this time had been because they had had a horrible fight shortly before the white-haired man had left the village.

Which wasn't true. They just …had had some less than civil last words (male-chauvinism, madness and being underage seemed to be the topic in question) at less than recommended volumes, trashed half of the Hokage's office in the two minutes the old man had left the pair alone to give them some time to calm down. So they weren't really angry at each other, per se… They just weren't on speaking terms.

Which was the reason why Minato was here at all, threatening to destroy the foundation of the academy; because she'd gone ahead and done something her sensei hadn't approved of and instead of staying and dealing with it like adults, the man had left this girl alone and she hadn't taken to it kindly. It was at times like this he was glad he'd had a son instead of a daughter.

'Why?' he finally asked. "Why would you do something like that?'

'Captain, I told you already,' and that was the worst of a person like Minato, her lack of empathy or ability to understand how someone wouldn't be able to understand her logic. 'If I just left them alone they would have either killed me or done nothing at all.'

'Everyone knows that, Namikaze-' he rubbed at his eyes tiredly. A booming headache seemed to be intent on blossoming behind them. 'That's why we just let them be. Sabaku would leave in a year or two, maybe even sooner if he kept getting bored with this, as for Uzumaki…' he shrugged 'Once Sabaku wasn't there to serve as muscle, her own teammates probably would have made her leave.' '…yes?' By the answer, it was obvious she was missing his point. 'Then why couldn't you just let them be?'

The blonde frowned at that, and he could practically hear the wheels turning at that warped maze the girl had for a brain.

'Do you really think the future Kazekage should be left to laze around like if he were on a vacations resort?' she finally asked, her expression troubled. 'That's not a problem for the Leaf.'

'It is. It's my mission.'

'Which is why you should have never accepted it!' he'd advised her to turn it down. Maybe Sabaku had been sweet on her once… but that was years ago. In the past three years his temper had become something of a legend.

Minato obviously wasn't liking what he was saying, but he was beyond caring right now. 'I would have never accepted a mission I don't feel like If I could complete, captain.'

'I'm not worried about you completing a mission, Minato,' he said, calling her by her first name. Or what they assumed it was, since it was obviously a boy's name. He wondered if Sandaime knew what the real one might be.

'Then?'

'Don't you see what you've done? Now you are going to be in charge of those two-'

'I can handle-'

'Can you?' The girl, who apparently still couldn't grasp there were questions he didn't want answered, nodded. 'Minato… Those two are now your subordinates, and your responsibility-'

'I'll take good care of-' He must have made some sort of gesture at the interruption, because the blonde straightened and stood up. Which was a welcome change. 'As I was saying… Your team is now composed by two people that are not only your responsibility, but that at the moment despise you.' 'So?' He didn't know what to answer to that, which the younger woman thought was encouragement to speak. 'I need them to do as I tell them, if they like it or not is not my business.'

'Listen, little girl,' and that's when he saw a reaction, saw her shoulders tense and eyes narrow in that expression she didn't quite manage to smooth 'You might not get this because you've never been responsible for other people, but a team is more than a captain issuing orders. You might think they have no option but to obey you, but that might not be how they feel. And it will come a time where you will need them- where you'll need to trust in them to guard your back. What will you do then?' No answer. Now she chose to shut up. 'Namikaze.' He could clearly see the way she struggled with herself between how little she wanted to answer and the admittance of defeat silence would be.

'I… will never need them to guard my back.' her voice was dark, aggressive- he wasn't surprised. 'I can take care of myself.'

'No one can take care of themselves all the time, Namikaze.' He said, finally getting up and turning his back at her, not even issuing the order of dismissal.

'I can.' The blonde told herself under her breath. 'I can take care of myself on my own.' But she didn't like the way her own voice sounded like. Her eyes stayed on the door, as if her superior would come back to tell her she was right, but of course, he didn't. Oblivious to her thoughts, one hand reached for her mouth and her teeth started worrying the newly grown nails.

Totally unaware to the dilemma that was put before the blonde, the red-haired Sabaku had finally left the infirmary. Whatever was in the bandages that were covering Chouza was pretty damn strong – and both him and Kushina couldn't feel the tips of their fingers once they were halfway done. Well, maybe Kushina was. Him, having the job of holding down the man who even, if he really tried to stay still, jumped like a fish taken out the waters, had to sacrifice his palms and elbows for that. And also arms. So now he was paralyzed with ointment almost to the armpits, stained, kicked and smelled like a bag of something he wouldn't touch with two meters long pole. And after all, he still felt like crying.

No fair. He really wanted to apologize to the Third, but the man had probably already left the academy and left him on his own, in guilty… that was the worst. And when he thought that there would be no worse thing happening to him in the last remaining bits of the day, fate once again proved him wrong. When he was about to enter his room, the high-pitched gasp caught his attention.

It was Karura, one of the famous puppet-masters twins. She just had to round the corner and see him in all his shame just like that. 'Daichi-sama!' she had gasped, looking at him with big, round eyes that seemed to be black in the upcoming night. 'What had happened to you?'

'Nothing!...' he snarled and immediately reached out for the key to open the door and cut away from the frightened stare of the girl 'Go away!' But just to his luck, his paralyzed fingers couldn't get a proper hold on the key, and after fruitless effort of trying to get it into the proper hole, it fell onto the ground. Great. And just like if the sound of the object hitting the ground signified anything, the girl had immediately leapt toward him and picked it up from the floor.

'I… allow me!' she said quickly, moving her eyes over his face quickly, making him scowl at her. She looked at his bruises and he didn't like that. Old scars were beautiful, but fresh wounds were weakness and he would be the last person on earth to uncover before even his own mother. He was about to tell her to go away in less polite manners, but as every puppeteer, she was already inside before he could even open his mouth To his distaste, she had lit the lights already and came deeper into his own room. 'Hey!' he shouted at her, angry at how it was solving out 'What the hell-!'

'I'm sorry, Daichi-sama!' she said in that high-pitched voice of her that could be only recognized at Suna women that spent too much time on the dessert 'But I'm only doing my duty! Please, close the door and come inside!'

Daichi tsked as she started rummaging through the closet where every ninja held his meds and came in. He was tired, abused both mentally and physically and he just wanted to lay down and die, even if only in his dreams. Visit of some overprotective female was less than unwelcome. With one decided movement he came near her, ready to catch her by hair and throw her out as all cavemen (probably) did in the past, but just when he was about to get her by the frame of her shirt, she turned around toward him and pushed something wet onto his hurting cheek. For a moment he saw nothing but white from pain that exploded under his skin, but then it wavered down into the refreshing calmness. It felt better.

'There.' she said like if she hadn't noticed what he wanted to do. And she did, she had obviously noticed. She was a ninja after all. The only Suna woman in the academy. Gods laughed at him for sure. He moved his head away, but the tissue with ointment followed. 'Sit down.' Said the girl with tone that was nowhere pleading but neither demanding. And Daichi just wanted to grab her and kick her out of the apartment right then, but he was tired and dirty and his heart howled for any kind of coddling right now, so he didn't tell her to go away and the things weren't thrown after her, and also the door weren't slammed shut. Instead he sat down on the bed, along with the girl and let her move the tissue up and down his face, healing it slowly.

'Thank you.' He muttered quietly when she had finally moved away. Karura had only smiled back and went away. Daichi felt strangely disturbed by it.


	14. Chapter 14

Daichi couldn't have been sleeping for more than two hours when there came a knock at the window. Kushina would have normally just waltzed in, but Daichi had beaten the shit out of her before, and she had enough bruises to account for, at least for a single night.

'Bastard, let me in.'

Daichi didn't sleep. Not through this banging. With one eye opened he observed the table on the side of the bed and ignored the girl openly. Then he looked at her and didn't move a bit. Gods surely wanted him to be a ladies' man. Suddenly his room started to be a quite attended place by boobs. Annoying boobs at that. Finally he stood up and came near the window, removing the curtains completely but not opening it. Violet side of his face glistened like a glass in the moonlight.

'What do you want!' he hissed loud enough for her to hear through the closed frame 'Go away, I'm trying to sleep!'

Despite the fact she had been mostly healed not four hours ago, the rose-haired kunoichi had fresh scratches on her face and arms, besides a torn sleeve on the simple shirt she was wearing. At his less than gentle welcome, she glared daggers at him and slammed the window open.

'I'm staying here tonight,' she announced, pushing him off her way and jumping in, dropping a bag that looked like the standard one she used when in mission and immediately setting to unroll her sleeping bag.

'What the f-!' said Daichi, too loud for the night that surrounded them 'Hell no! I disagree! There will be no woman sleeping with me in the one room! Get out! Get the hell out!' he screamed, and caught her bag, only to throw it out of the window. Then he looked at her. 'Do it yourself or I'll do the same with you as I did with your trash!' he hissed.

The woman suddenly turned on him, all blazing cerulean eyes and snarling teeth. 'Listen up you imbecile, everything that happened here was your fault!' she yelled at him, not bothering to take care of the volume either. 'I don't know what did you do to make Blondie hate you so badly that she did this to us, but it's not my fault I had to be thrown in the bag with you.' She jabbed her finger on his chest. 'Because of you I don't have a room anymore. Or friends or a freaking village, so unless you want to find yourself alone at the mercy of your ex, I suggest for you to shut up and let me sleep or so Mizukage help me, I will drown you in your own toilet!'

Daichi immediately caught her by the brim of her shirt and lowered her down so their eyes met on the same level. The fact that she was higher than him never bothered him the slightest bit as every kind of height had its advantages. 'Sure, why not, witch.' He growled at her response. He knew what she was talking about, he knew very well. The only difference was that his own people even if they held grudges against him, they were too afraid to approach him. The invisible barrier of the Third's arm still lied upon him no matter if the Third announced his disgust or not. 'Know my freaking mercy! But remember one thing: I. Had. Never. Done. The. Freaking. Single. Thing. To. Piss. That. Bitch. Off. So. Much. Got it?'

'Then why did she do this?' Kushina didn't try to pull away from his grasp 'Why else would she do something like this? We could have gotten killed or expulsed by this!'

'You tell me.' Said Daichi with sardonic smile and finally let go of her shirt. 'If I knew I would be fighting against it already. But I'm not the infiltrating mind type Yamanaka or some Uchiha-freak!' he growled once again and sat on his bed. That was all too bad to be true in the end.

Kushina just looked at him for several seconds, as if trying to figure out if he was lying or not, then shrugged. He would have told the older man to suck it up and go apologize or something, but she doubted he would, and either way, the damage was already done. It took her a moment to get her things back – and Daichi was lucky she didn't really have anything in it that was breakable- then set the roll on the floor and slid into it. Daichi didn't offer her the bed and she didn't ask for it, nor did she even think about it. Chivalry was a dead art among Sunanins. 'Oh… Tsunade said we need to be there at 5:30.'

Which gave them about four or five hours to pretend this day hadn't happened. Joy.

While her new subordinates were trying to get some rest after being dragged around back and forth from the hospital, the cause of all their disgraces was curled in bed with a pillow clutched to her chest and her blankets thrown haphazardly around her body.

She should get up and straighten them again, wrinkled blankets were comfortable, but there was such a thing as too messy and when you reached that point all you had left to do was get up and put everything back in order, only she knew that even if she did so, she would still be unable to sleep, only that in a messy bed, at least she had an excuse for her lack of sleeping.

It wasn't that she didn't think they could cover that debt within two years. The money those two owed was extraordinaire for just three years of lack of any sort of control, but with the war going, everything was a profit, and A ranked missions paid well. The problem was that said missions rarely took less than a month to complete, and even if they did a bit of a detour and maybe did a tiny bit of mercenary work on the side just to get a little extra… It still would be two years and several months with those two. Liking it or not, logic dictate that no matter how careful she could ever hope to be, at some point or another, she would end up in a position where she would depend on her teammates to keep her life.

And then they'd kill her. And all she'd fought for, all she'd given up for, all she'd wanted to achieve would amount to… nothing. Just a stupid death because Sabaku no fucking Daichi and jam-colored-hair company couldn't be decent shinobi if someone wasn't running behind them to remind them they were supposed to be elite. Suddenly sitting up, she started punching at her pillow and didn't stop until the stuffing ended on both end of the stuffed piece, a wide, empty space in the middle.

'No. Never.' She'd taken care of herself for twelve years and she wasn't going to end up as a corpse in a ditch just because her own teammates didn't share her belief of working to the best of her ability at all times. Kicking the blankets off, she found her track suit and quickly put it on, wasting just enough time to find a band to hold her hair up with it. If she couldn't sleep she might as well do something useful of her time. She would never, ever have her life depend on someone else. First, she'd kill Sabaku and Kushina herself.

It was a rough wake up. The joints cracked, the muscles hurt and the toes all but jittered when with every time he used his feet. It was a horrendous feeling of overusing himself in activity he was not used to do. It was kind of normal for him and usually he was not only happy to feel that, but it also measured his pride – he made another activity to stretch his range of experiences. But this time it was far, far away from that. To tell the truth, his pride was howling at his feet and begging for mercy, like if he could do anything to make it happen.

'Get up, witch.' He said groggily, kicking the unmoving bundle of a sleeping comrade on the floor 'It's morning. Sun had shown and all that crap.' His choose of wordings was far from elegant but at least now, he didn't care. And if Kushina didn't like it, she could blame only the circumstances. He wasn't the one to make her stay after all.

The redhead in the floor cracked a blue eye open and looked at the older nin for a moment, then whimpered and hid her face in the pillow. Then dodged when Daichi tried to step on her face. 'You lie… there is no sun.' It was autumn either way, so there wouldn't be any actual sunlight for at least another hour, but if they wanted to grab a bite before their new torture session begun, they better hurry. Everyone knew from experience hospital food sucked.

'Believe in what you may.' Answered the boy and walked out of the room to wash his face. If she wanted to live off the hospital food it was fine with him. He was not doing that.

She glared after him for a moment, then seemed to think better of it and just shrugged, taking off her shirt and fishing a new one from what little of her things she'd been able to salvage from what was left when she got to her room.

Flirty as her attitude normally could be, there was nothing further from her thoughts than sex at the moment, not that there ever had been when it came to changing- It wasn't just Kushina that didn't seem to have a problem to change in front of someone of the opposite sex, but the large majority of shinobi from water country, weather they were male or female. When you lived in a country ridden with outlets to the sea or large rivers and spent all your life living with people wearing very little and usually very close fitted, it was hard to develop much of self-consciousness.

Besides, Sunanins were prudes. Everyone knew that. 'It can't be too bad, right?' she said, finally finding some pants she liked and fitting them on 'I mean, it's an hospital, everyone is in beds… how hard can it be?'

As an answer, she's got a nicely measured footprint aimed just at her butt. It wasn't very strong, but since Daichi's foot was already in a sandal, her new clean panties got a nice dirty stain after thirty seconds of being useful. 'Stop showing me your privates, I didn't ask for a peep show.' Said Daichi and turned around to search for his makeup set. Usually he wasn't allowed to wear much make up unless he was having a good reason to do so – either the representative one or battling one – but his white geisha base and yellow and yellow eye shadow had a specific dulling purposes, so he could be protected both from bacteria and awful taste if he would apply it to the right places.

Mostly around the eyes and the base of his nose. He looked in the mirror. The first smudge already made him look like if he was trying to draw glasses around his eyes. Oh well. 'And I don't think it will be easy. It's a part of medicine's department. This is always tricky.' Not to tell that he wasn't very good in anything he didn't need for basics of his survival knowledge. Which meant probably a lot of heavy training.

'No one told you to watch if you don't like it!' the younger woman replied, pushing her hands on the floor and returning the favor, causing him to smudge paint on recent bruises. 'Great, now it's ruined. Let me borrow some underwear, I don't have anything else.' A moment later she was going through his drawers for something that would fit her.

'Fu-!...'could be only heard in response, quickly covered in hiss as the antibacterial paint got into the wounds. Great. A good portion of paint wasted on the places he had to wash them out. 'Stay away from my underwear!' he barked, turning around. The last thing he needed was that woman going through his pants and commenting on the fact it was all too tight because in Suna everything had to be close to body to avoid sand rubbing in the fragile places. 'Go commando if you don't like that! Your panties are not my problem!'

'You ruined them on purpose so it's your fault!' the girl barked back without seeming to care about what he said too much, if the fact she kept rummaging was any clue to it. 'So either you get me a new one, wash the one you ruined or just wait until I buy some more.' Some black boxers seemed more or less promising, considering that Daichi's hips had nothing to do with hers size-wise. Good thing he wasn't as skinny as his blond friend, who could probably fit into his female twin's clothes without anyone noticing the difference unless they were up close. 'Either way, most of the people there are chuunin, so it can't be that hard. I mean, it's not like if they don't know who we are right? They probably won't want us touching too many things.'

Daichi scrunched his nose in distaste and turned back to the mirror to look at his make up again. She already wore them so there was no use of them too. It was good she didn't take any particular ones he liked – but he would never want them back now. Another thing that went to waste. 'Keep on dreaming.' He muttered to his own face. He was already preparing himself for the worst and no words could take him away from that. He would like to be nicely surprised instead of getting a cold hit from reality.

'Fishy, fishy, fishy….' Sexism seemed to just about overflood everywhere, so she'd been hoarded off to special training with a dark haired girl who seemed to be about genin age, if not less. She'd put a nice-looking rainbow trout she wouldn't have minded having for breakfast instead of the disgusting dry and sour things Sunanins normally ate and told her to revive it. That had been ten hours and two trouts ago.

She had tried to revive the thing. She had focused the chakra she had fed it as she'd been told, and how had the fish rewarded her? It blew up in her face. A change of clothes later she borrowed from another nurse (or at least from her open closet) and a short shower to clean bone and gust from her hair, she started on fishy number two, who didn't want to come back to life no matter how much she tried to. She accused the little genin of giving her a fake fish. Short and freckled put her hands on the thing and a moment later it started gasping for air. But that didn't mean anything. It could be just a replacement technique and she didn't catch it because she'd been too busy picking a scale off her hair.

She was now staring at the newly dead thing head on, eyes inches away from the still mouth.

'Fishy… I'm going to revive you, fishy…'

She wiggled her finger in a sort of 'naughty' expression at the wide, blank eye 'And then I'm going to kill you again… then revive you again and eat you alive, om nom nom nom….' On the door of the room, still dressed in her semi-permanent track suit and just back from her usual fifty mid-morning laps, Minato stared at the rose-haired female, then slowly turned to the taller kunoichi. 'Did you hit her too hard, Tsunade-sensei? I think she might have a concussion.'

Tsunade had only lifted her eyes from the cup of tea (with a hint of sake in it, but nobody had to know that) and shrugged. 'Her duty is to revive that fish and it's not my concern what she does during that, unless she is harming others. And if she wants to make an idiot out of herself…' She turned to the side, watching the girl preparing to give the trout CPR. '…then it's not forbidden.'

'And how is the other one doing there?'

Tsunade's lip lifted, then quivered, like if she couldn't really hold the smile. 'Not that bad. I didn't think he would actually find this job… suiting.' Which was probably a big mistake from her part. But really, considering who was the boy supposed to be in the future she didn't expect from him to act that way. She pointed at the door behind her. 'You can check for yourself if you want.'

Minato gave the older woman a distrusting look. In her experience, that sort of quasi-smile usually meant she was about to somehow con her sensei out of money or arrange his bones in new, artistic ways. Without losing the distrusting look, she moved to the door and peeked in.

Inside the room there could be seen a big operational bed and a person laying on it. It was hard to distinguish the face of the laying one as the leading doctor mostly stood in the front, covering the view. Daichi stood on the other side of the bed. But even then, according to the hysteric screams that were uttered it was easy to tell that the person was a young girl, probably a newbie in the academy. 'It hurts! Doctor, it hurts! Please, tell me! Will I lose an arm? I'm sure I will! Oh please, doctor, save me!...'

'Mmm, yes, an arm…' answered the older man, seeming to be lost in his own thoughts as he studied an x-ray. The photos that were stacked to the walls showed a massive crush of the bone along with mislead joints. 'At first, Danzo, to reduce the possible pain…'

'Daichi.' Said the male, looking like if it was not the first time he said that. 'Yes, yes, Koichi… so, we will have to delicately move the fingers into right places…'

'It's Daichi.'

'…and then we will… excuse me?'

'Daichi. It's my name.'

'Of course, I know that. You had already told me your name, Shuichi. So, to move the bones…'

'Oh please, doctor, it hurts so much! I can't take anymore! How will I stay a ninja if I'll lose my arm? My mother will be so angry!...'

'My name's Daichi. Shut up.' Said the male with the same tone, not even turning toward the girl. She didn't seem to hear him.

'Then we will have to … where are my glasses…' said the doctor turning around and looking at the x-ray. Then he turned it upside down and walked to his desk, searching for his glasses. The said object hanged loosely from his neck on his back. The girl wailed loudly. 'I can't take it anyomoreee!' she screamed. The boy sighed, then turned toward her. It seemed that this situation was going off like that for awhile.

'Do you really want to stop hurting?' he asked in a gravy tone. The girl eagerly nodded with her head. Without a warning, Daichi moved his hands over her palms and started moving the bones of the finger, making them go 'pop' at every time. That made the girl go twice as loud which, for some miraculous reason, didn't alarm the doctor the least as he was still looking for his glasses only a meter away. 'There.' Said Daichi with the same gravy, calm tone. But some strange glint in his eyes shown that he wasn't as calm as he seemed to be. 'Does that still hurt?'

'Y… yes…' said the girl, obviously scared by the look he gave her, even if a moment ago she was quite audible. 'So it still hurts you?' said Daichi, not moving an inch.

'Yes! Yes it hurts!...' she repeated. Daichi smiled. 'How can you ask such a thi-' *crack* 'Really? How about now?' said Daichi and another pop could be heard and the girl paled, obviously too scared to let out aloud scream. The doctor had finally turned around. Daichi looked back at him as if nothing has happened. 'I was right.' He said moving another glasses over his nose, obviously spare ones as the other were still hanging on his back. 'You'll have to just move the bones like that-' he said and took the hand of a girl to make the presentation. The strange sound could be heard again and the doctor furrowed his eyebrows. 'Strange… it seems they're not disjointed, but broken…' he muttered. 'Really?' said Daichi, looking at the doctor innocently. 'Such a bad luck. How can this be?'

'I don't know, I really don't know… but this machinery is old… then we will just have to take care of an arm first. Please, stay calm, Momochi is quite a good student and we will have it done in no time…'

'Of course, Momochi will take care you.' Said Daichi patting the broken bone good naturally, making the girl let out a pained shout. 'By the way, I'm Daichi.' Then he looked at the door and gave Minato a smile that didn't suit his normal features at all. The doctor followed his gaze but somehow, completely overlooked the presence of the girl and moved around to gather needed objects.

The blonde smiled back at the smile, though it was as empty as it was automatic. For some reason she had the feeling Daichi would have preferred her in that bed instead of that girl… With a little bow she went again after Tsunade, telling herself she wasn't scurrying, just… Moving fast. Yes.

'Tsunade-sensei…'

'IT'S ALIVE!' Wincing at the volume, he ignored the shouts and moved faster. 'Ts- Tsunade-sensei… Maybe I can help a bit with the debt?'

'OH NO YOU FUCKER DON'T DIE ON ME!'

'You can send me on a mission to get more drugs or something like that? Maybe?'

'IT WAS ALIVE A MOMENT AGO, YOU SAW! What? No- I'm not shouting! Why would you say-? I'M NOT SHOUTING!'

'...If you really want to kill someone I can do it...'

Tsunade scrunched her eyebrows, trying to ignore the screaming. 'Why would I want that? You don't have to do anything when it comes to this…' she said, then turned toward Kushina with distaste, but turned back, seeing as she didn't interrupt her… yet.

'…and besides, I already have help when it comes to drug dealing, just this morning a pair came to ask for an additional help and that's more than enough… but if you want you can go ask them if they need any help. They're there. Hey!'

With that she waved at the group in the corner of the room, taking care of sorting the herbs. A pair of identical faces looked up in question. 'They're twins from Suna village. They're quite good I admit.' She said 'If they'll agree I'm sure they could teach you a thing or two.' The twins still looked at Tsunade, but when their gaze moved, the features of a boy suddenly turned blank, like if he was bored out of his mind while the expression of a girl seemed to become less and less friendly until a complete 'don't even think about it' cleared out on the surface.

Minato stared back at the pair with the same small, amiable smile in her face, then turned back towards her teacher.

'Thanks, but no thanks, Tsunade-sensei… I don't think I need to learn anything, just get some extra to get this done faster…' Which she wouldn't even have to do if it weren't for the fact that these two had fucked her life up and made her bite more than she could swallow-

No. Just… no.

She hated hospitals. She hated the antiseptic smell, and she hated the needles and she hated even more when someone suggested she should try to learn something out of being there, as if she had any intention of changing from being a shinobi to a mere medic-nin- 'You know what, Tsunade-sensei… Regardless of their actions, Uzumaki and Sabaku-sama are both very capable shinobi, wouldn't you agree?

The blonde looked at her for a moment, then she shrugged. 'Maybe, but if they are, I don't know anything about it. All I know is that they're quite the troublemakers and so far they're doing more mess than help here and I must assist them to cover some kind of a debt.' The twins still stared at her, not turning their gaze away.

Minato ignore them and kept smiling 'What I mean is… They don't really need training that much. They are good at ninjustu and taijutsu, and this seems more important, somehow…' her smile widened, now sort of dipping into saccharine depths. 'Yes, it's decided then. I'm going to cancel all training hours until they get good enough to start receiving some payment to cover that debt they have with the hospital.'

The screams coming from the fish room abruptly ceased, except from some sort of cutlery hitting the floor. And if it were some sort of question, the blonde nodded enthusiastically and clapped her hands together. 'Yes, that's a great idea. In fact, I don't think they should even leave the hospital until they do something right. I'm going to talk with Kazue-san to let her know of this new arrangement. I'm going to take some mission to start working on the other debt in the meantime, so, feel free to treat them as you would anyone from your staff. Workload included.' She dusted her hands in front of her suit, looking at them with a small frown, then shrugging.

'The commander should be able to contact me if you need me for anything, so feel free to call me back when they can resume the split shifts, I'll return as soon as possible.' With a last bow to the older blonde, the girl turned around and quickly ran off, ignoring the fact one of her new teammates had reached the door and was staring at her with an expression that couldn't fit any more horror into solely due lack of facial space. Wordlessly, she turned to stare at the older blonde.

Tsunade looked back at the rose haired girl in silence. Then she finally rose the cup of her tea to her mouth and shrugged. 'I always were a fan of working with something until the job is done right.' She said 'Don't stare at me like that, you heard her. She is your captain and she agreed so… get back to work.' Inside the operation room a wild howl following the clearly broken bone yelled. A panicked voice of a doctor could be heard through it, but only barely. 'What? You told me to break it.' Said a voice with polite manner but obviously full of anger. 'But not in this place!...' mewled the voice of an older man.

'But… it-it….it was alive.' She pointed at the table, where the trout, who for some reason had gained a few sprouting kunai in it's now empty eye sockets stood deathly still. 'I swear.' Training should have happened in only another hour. She was counting on it. She was counting on it to free her from the misery of being there. And then wouldn't be there anymore until the next day, but now… not leaving? Her ex-roommate was a medic-nin. They usually had thirty six hour shifts. 'Maybe we should try with a new one, Kushina-san? It's not that difficult….' Softly, taking the redhead by the sticky hand, Shizune pulled her back to the room. She didn't leave it for another eight hours.


	15. Chapter 15

Dawn found her hiding with Daichi in an unused room that still had some of the seals that had been used to stabilize whoever had been the last patient. Tsunade had said it was break time after Kushina managed to get the stupid fish to gape stupidly for air, and by then the only reason she didn't eat it was because she didn't think she would be able to stomach fish for a very long time. Maybe it was the pain she felt making her sensitive to other's woes or maybe she just wanted Daichi to break the dispenser machine for her because she didn't think she could so much as lift a hand and now here they were, enjoying what would probably be their only fifteen minutes of rest.

'I think I just spent all my chakra on a fish.' She said conversationally, drinking from a can of lemonade, too tired to so much as chew on the snacks they'd brought yet. 'Not fishes, just… one fish. One single fish. The one fish to rule them all.'

Daichi looked at her with a look of a murderer who killed half of the village but didn't get the victim he wanted to slaughter. Which meant it was quite unhappy and hungry for blood. 'Shut up. In the past day I had the name my parents were so proud of changed from Danzo to Mamoru and I had to look at the section of a living person and listen to its screams. Seriously, nothing smells more than insides of a living human being cut in half when you're only forced to watch and can't even cut their tongue out.' With that, he chugged down the cup of a water like if he hadn't seen the liquid for past ten years. 'If I'll have to see womb from the inside once again I swear I'm turning gay.'

'You are gay already.' The girl replied so good naturedly it could only mean her brain shutting down into shock. 'Daichi… we are going to die here. We'll never leave alive.'

'Shut up, witch. Or you'll jinx it.' Said Daichi and closed his eyes as he moved his hand over them, massaging his temples. 'I did not enter this academy to get on with broken bones, I have a country to run in a few years… I have to train or I'll fail the Kazekage's exam.' Which most likely meant living in shame and poverty for the rest of his life as every candidate for kazekage was trained only for the stool itself and could do nothing else. Good ninja skills were also as good as nothing when people did not want to hire the loser in fear of getting it on with the wrath of gods. The Third actually promised him that if he would lose he would behead him out of a pity, but knowing his grandmother's weakened state who lost her grandson not so long ago, she won't allow it to happen.

'So I don't know about you but I'm not going to stay here.'

'Well… I'm sorry, but I don't see it happening. Unless you find some new cool jutsu to summon money or something, I don't think we'll get this covered by the time of that exam.' She took another sip of the lemonade and looked at the colorful can. It seemed so happy and bright…. Completely from another galaxy non related to sadistic blonde bitches. 'I got the fishy right.' She muttered to it, her eyes slightly glazed over. 'Who knows what she'll have me do next… Wanna exchange? You can revive the animal kingdom and I'll deal with innards all day long.'

Daichi smiled at her. Only that smile lacked any happiness. 'Sure, why not. I would love to play with something fishy for a change.'

'Great, let's just ask the buxom führer if she'll let us exchange...' she almost laughed, but that also would require too much effort. Just like fumbling with that bag of chips was causing her now. She let her hands rest on her lap. 'Daichi.'

'Yes, my maiden.' Said the man, and took the bag from her lap. But when he pulled on the bag, the aluminum foil ripped completely, making the snacks fly everywhere and covering the floor of the room almost completely. After a moment of silence, the boy stood up and crunched the paper into a ball, only to toss it at the wall with such force that if it was made from any heavier material it would make a hole in the wall. Then he sat on the chair and hid his face in his hands. The violet bruises still were clearly visible from under the makeup that faded away during the working hours.

Kushina stared at him for a moment, again surprised at how hard he was taking all of this… Then again, he did just have more or less his life's dream stomped on by a vengeful ex. Talk about emasculating. Sighing, she reached for one of the fallen snacks and crunched on it, mindless of the fact it was on the floor. If she died of something, it would probably be from something short, sugary and blonde. She reached with a hand to pat the top of his head in a semi-affectionate gesture. '…I think you should stick to dating boys from now on, sugar.'

A bitter laugh emanated somewhere from between the fingers and mass of red hair. 'Sure. Care to volunteer?'

'Sure, just let me get my weekend cock.' the woman said with a snort of laughter. 'Or I could introduce you to some nice friends. I'm particularly inclined towards the shinobi from rock.'

'No, thanks. Keep your rock figures to yourself. I don't feel like doing that lately.' Because really, lately if he could, he'd simply shoot every lovey-dovey pair. If he could.

It was surprisingly easy to get used to days made of anywhere between thirty to forty-two hours that 'week' was merely a term of the mind, solely used by close-minded people who didn't know the day was over until The Rack told you it was. And more often than not, she was too busy or too sloshed to tell you that. So, life was composed of unending days and running from one place to another being used as slave by just about everyone because everyone had a higher rank than you did.

But she did get the hang on reviving the fishy. She got it so well she could do it almost without thinking about it, just like she did everything else, because of late, her head felt like a sizzling hot pan, and her brain like a frozen hamburger dropped on it. It was a miracle she could manage any sort of thought in between all that smoke. Most of the time she did, she just moved like a zombie from one room to the other bringing bandages and checking on charts and occasionally having a make out session with the nice brunette nurse from Thunder in the third floor when Tsunade was locked in her room with the sake.

Her relationship with Daichi had also vastly improved too. Now she only wanted to kill him once or twice a day, instead of constantly, but if that had anything to do with the fact they both hated the same sort of things, they had to spend more time together or just that having a fight would require more chakra and stamina that even the shorter man had by the end of the 'day'. Living in the hospital also had solute nicely her problems with getting lynched or having to camp at Daichi's- if she didn't leave the hospital she could go take a nap in the roof or collapse in one of the spare beds, because rooms two blocks away were definitely too far away. There were also showers in the hospital and there was the delightful brunette in the third floor… It was almost nice.

Now, if she could just set it in fire, life would be just perfect.

Daichi on the other hand caught up pretty soon how to break a bone to not miss the correct spot. What his problem was it was the knowledge of what he exactly was breaking. And because he wasn't particularly interested in knowing, his days seemed to last for never-ending hours. Even the soft old man whose head was always in another dimension started to become nervous as he again and again mixed the names of the skeletal bones while he thought of a complicated jutsu he wanted to use later (and which he usually couldn't because he was so exhausted, that even if he made it right, his body simply gave up on pouring the chakra beyond the normal 150% limit and he fell dead on the ground. And he usually didn't know if he made the jutsu right, so it was pretty unnerving).

'What is this bone?' asked the doctor as he rummaged through his brain for a complicated hand seal and wondered how would he be able to make it when the Third would be near him. It would mean he would have to knock him out for a minute, which seemed pretty impossible…

'Hey!'

'Hummers.' He answered absent mindedly. But if he got a hold on a good old hammer… 'It's spatula! Spatula, Ryuuichi! The leg bone! Hummers is an upper bone of an arm!'

'Yeah, yeah, fibula.'

'Spatula!'

And thus, the tortures lasted. And just when he thought he got out from that hell after he recited from the memory all skeleton five times, it got to the internal organs. 'Oh gods, what the fuck…' he though, as the doctor showed him something grey and moving as the patient gaped at his own organs through dizzy eyes. 'A gland.' Said the doctor, then showed him something else that looked exactly the same. 'And this?'

'Internal penis.' He murmured darkly. For that he landed at the medical side of the room, trying to revive a particularly stupid fish, hating the whole world. Unlike Kushina, he's got the hold on the electrical waves pretty quickly (which was quite a thing assuming that his thunder nature of chakra was basically nonexistent), so the fishes caught upon life like they never did before, but a second later they also started smelling like a good dinner and even if the nurses tore his hands of the animal on their own, usually the fishes looked like if he threw them straight into fire. At his best attempt the small sardine still had its eyes when he managed to channel the chakra to his hair and thus, weaken it a bit. But when Tsunade looked at him, he regretted he even tried- the woman not only could hold her laugh, but also started to giggle every time she saw him for the next two weeks. Thankfully, for the fact that he made them all a good dinner they let him go to a break that lasted for more than two hours. Thanks gods for unexpected cooking abilities (or killing ones).

'Here.' Said Yashamaru, where his own break started. He looked at the blond with tired gaze. In the feminine hand the light green brush lied. Obviously it didn't belong to him as it was a girly object, but then, one could never know. Karura didn't even move an inch and the twins always looked like if they shared everything. 'Allow me.' He didn't protest, feeling too tired to even speak against such a questionable act toward hygiene. He caught a glance of both the girl and the headmistress blonde eyeing him, but he decided to shrug it off. Like if they had never seen ninjas combing each other's hair or something (well, maybe they didn't, because it was a freaking academy, but heck, parents in Suna had a tendency to do that every now and then to check for louses and fleas. It was easy to get such at the place where people had to wash themselves with sand from the lack of water). After a moment, his hair once again felt like normal, he leaned over, feeling satisfied. How long had it been since someone took care of him like that?...

'Thank you.' He murmured.

'Not me, please. It was my sister's idea.' Said Yashamaru calmly 'It would be good if you could return a favor sometime.' The older male looked at him with a frown. 'Just suggesting.' Said the blond and went away. Which meant pretty much 'You don't have to. If you're not a complete dick, of course.' And he wasn't, not really. He couldn't be.

So, after his shift had ended, he walked up to the girl and took her for a long walk on the academy grounds, where he bought her a cup of sour lemonade (those glowing closets for food worked really for twenty four hours) and practiced the simple shooting with kunais toward the collected aim. The talk didn't go on well, so after a moment of murmuring, he just kept on shooting while she just sat near, observing.

'You really are a great ninja, Daichi-sama.' She piped in after some minutes.

'Hn.' He murmured, not really knowing what to say. Another kunai hit the bull's eye. 'I'm the Third Kazekage's trainee. You can expect no less.'

'I think you're better than the Third.' His hand moved and the fifth kunai missed the main spot for a few centimeters. He bit his lip. If only others could think that way.

'But someday he won't be.' She muttered 'There's always Fourth after Third, right?...' He stopped, looking at her. She blushed and moved her head away, like if looking at him was a thing to be ashamed of. He frowned even more. He didn't like such behavior. It reminded him of the taboo of the person who nobody liked to know.

'It's not said that it exactly has to be me.' He muttered and looked at the kunais in his hands. They were black and shined with oil. 'There are other candidates…'

'But why not you?' she said and looked at him again. This time, when he turned at her, she didn't move her head away. That was better. 'I believe that you will be the Fourth.' He looked at her, surprised. She held his gaze. Oh, dear. He smiled.

'That's nice.' He said 'Thank you.'

She smiled back. For the rest of the evening, no other words were uttered, and when for once he turned around to tell her to get back to her room, she wasn't there. At some point she had just walked away. Silly. Good, but silly. If he worked like that he would never be able to accomplish that dream. It felt nice to hear such words, but somewhere deep in his head, another voice sat and murmured: if only, if only, if only, hocus pocus. If only someone else said that too. He threw a kunai. The steel sounded loud as it hit the other kunai and fell on the ground. Bull's eye was full of weapons now, so no other one could get there. With a sigh, he walked up to gather them all and get back to his room. Unlike Kushina, he liked to sleep in his bed, the place the assassination attempts were most possible to happen.

And tomorrow was another hard day.

'Bitch.' He muttered to himself as he lied on the covers, not bothering to arrange them clean anymore. He simply didn't have time for such trivialities. And as every day, his feelings of betrayal grew in strength.

She couldn't feel her legs. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration - a projection of desires, if you will. Currently, she *wished* she couldn't feel her legs, but because she did (horribly, agonizing, hell, she could hear them scream) she told herself she didn't and all that pain of muscles that literally shock if she dared to stop and stay still was just in her imagination. Which was utter bullshit, because her imagination had never been that strong.

While her new teammates acquainted themselves with the ways of medic nins much more closely either would have ever wanted, Minato took it upon herself to work on the side of the debt that belonged to the academy. Her initial idea had been to just hoard the money for all that they owed to the institute, but Shukei-san had told her it was better to keep the expanses of the hospital and the grounds separate. Why? She had no idea, Minato had never been good with money and usually was in reds by the end of the month, even without her sensei around to mooch of her. Special scrolls and special clothes and special binding didn't come cheap, and she went through them like if they were napkins in the middle of a bad summer cold. Painkillers could hardly be called expensive, but she went through those even faster. From what she gathered it just meant they would go faster if left that way, because Uzumaki's debts with the hospital were considerably lower than the ones Sabaku had, and likewise, her damage to the grounds larger. That way once she covered ones she could easily be moved to work on the other one when finished.

She had decided to let them fare with the one of the hospital in their own, keeping in mind how little she liked the area unless she was just visiting Tsunade and concentrated on taking as many missions as possible. Her commander might still be angry at her, and the shinobi from Suna and Water wouldn't have liked anything more than to see her corpse hanging from a spiked rail, but most of the ninja from Thunder and Rock had suddenly become a lot more welcoming of her presence, which allowed her to go to joint missions, not that she took that many. She preferred messenger work.

It didn't pay as good as missions did, but they were much faster to complete, she could take more than one at the same time and it was perfect for her new method of training… which was the reason she was currently feeling like if her legs would run out without her. Possibly without so much as leaving a note while at it. One of the brothers from Thunder that had seen her in and out of the grounds had commented to her in their last mission that his sensei had taught him that to strengthen his muscles and work on stamina and speed, he'd taken to wear bracelets made of a heavy material. Apparently it was hell when you had them on, but once your body got used to them, you'd only notice how much faster and lighter you were once you took them off.

Well, so far she could only testify to the first part. In the last errand she'd run to Thunder she'd acquired some of that special material ('ingot', as they called it) and then paid one of the shinobi to make some special weights for her legs. She'd given up on hopes of being able to do any heavy damage with her scant weight and size, and concentrated on speed since, which had paid well as she didn't really needed to be able to take hits as long as the people who wanted to hit her were too dead before they could make contact. That had been three days ago. So far all she noticed when she took them off was her muscles agonic complaints transformed into something she could only describe as 'stepping into a hive full of burning termites coated in acid' crawling from her ankles almost to her stomach. Putting them on again the next day wasn't any easier, and how slow they made her nervous, but it was still too soon to see any results so she had decided to wait a bit. As it was, the messenger bird found her leaning her back on a tree and dreaming awake with a hot spring in which to relax her rioting joints. For a moment she stared at the small brown and white feathered bird before quickly scrambling up to get it, biting on her lower lip from the pain the action caused her. She was disappointed to see it was a message from the commander instead of her sensei. He hadn't sent her a word ever since he left Konoha without her almost four month ago.

With a frown, she scanned over it once, then more carefully, her expression distending into a softer one of content. So, Tsunade though they were good enough already? That really was a relief. She had been getting nervous about the lack of news on the pair, but theorized that lack of complaints was better than lack of praise. She fed and gave water to the bird while she pondered what to write back, going through the scrolls she still had to deliver. She still had ten left, and probably would be getting a few more to take back with her. The one furthest away was in cloud. Maybe she'd run in with Jiraiya on her way there. Once found, the trail of furious women and unpaid drinking tabs was hard to miss.

She made it back to the academy two days later, and it was only after delivering the returned scrolls, a shower and a change of clothes (only discernible because this white track suit had red edges instead of blue) that she presented herself in Tsunade's office with a package of macaronis to go through while they met. 'I'm glad that they are finally meeting your expectations, Tsunade-sensei,' she said as she accepted a cup of tea from Shizune and sort of melted into the lovingly overstuffed seat she'd taken.

The younger blonde debated whether to cross her legs or not, but considering the weights were on, the leg on top would just make her feel like if her ankle would snap. Possibly crush the one underneath while at it. 'Kazue-san mentioned there has been a lot of improvement as far as their behavior goes.' which from what she could gather form the grey-haired Kunoichi, probably meant that Tsunade had either worked them into submission or simply pounded them into it. Possibly both.

She didn't dare to hope such obedience would extend to her, but she was willing to work on that bridge when it came to it. So far she just needed to figure out what did Tsunade want those two to do from now on and how to work on a schedule and a set of duties that wouldn't interfere in the numerous jobs they would take.

The blonde took the pastry with a smile – she didn't really buy such as it was too high on sugar and since she's got on the diabetic knowledge, watching the food became an activity that would drive people obsessed with health insane. But on from time to time would not hurt. 'Oh, Minato-chan, not much. Only the usual.' She said around the food, munching on it slowly. It was not bad. Definitely not bad 'I swapped their activities when they've got too good in what they did and so far I can only tell that Sabaku sucks at revival. But in the future I'd like him to wind around the poisonous meds as he should share some knowledge coming from his country… it would be a shame if he didn't share it.'

Something strange had glinted in her eye for a moment, but it was soon gone. 'As for the Uzumaki, I think she is much better at breaking bones than Daichi, but her lack of patience drives the patients hysteric. It would be good to give her work in the herbarium as plants tend to keep quiet despite the worst patience of the gardener.'

Minato almost told her she doubted that she would get anything out of Daichi. Being the grandson of the greatest poison maker in Wind Country, Daichi had knowledge of poisons that went far beyond the usual possessed by even elite jounin from Suna. Villages were always extremely protective of their secret techniques and bloodlines, which she knew better than anyone. And in a land with such a low population ratio and high mortality risk, no one was more careful than Sunanins about keeping their secrets. And she didn't know anyone more stingy about such knowledge than Daichi.

Maybe Tsunade would get something. If Daichi as feeling extreeemely generous (or more likely after she had paid heavily for the privilege) but whatever she got probably wouldn't be beyond whatever they thought to kids in first grade in that Village. She almost told her this, but then she remember that she hadn't really so much as spoken to him for several years and he definitely wasn't the person she had looked up to just four years ago.

'Then you won't mind giving me a schedule you prefer? If you approve I start taking missions with them.'

'Oh, Minato-chan… if I would they wouldn't get out of the hospital. In my opinion they have too much to learn to get out of here for a lunch break.' The blonde slowly chew on the pastry she had already bit and cleaned her fingers from the sugary stickiness. 'They're yours after all, so take their time and rule it properly.'

'But they also have a lot of money to pay off to the hospital.' she said as she bit into a pastry herself. 'I guess then I'll just have to ask what are the better paid schedules and positions they could fill in.'

The blonde looked at her for a moment with still gaze. Then she frowned lightly. 'In such case I guess I could make up some schedules.' She said slowly, but she was obviously not as happy as she was before 'But I'm a very busy woman.'

Minato smiled apologetically. 'I know I'm imposing a lot on you, Tsunade-hime,' the blonde said as she looked down to her tea. 'If you want, I'll let you borrow one of sensei's toads to work with in return.'

In the answer, Tsunade had only rolled her eyes. Jiraiya's toads, right! No work would be done with them, as long as they would be linked with their master, and knowing him, they probably will. 'No, I think I'll manage to do that myself. I did it so far so here's no need to ask for another hand from anyone.' Her frown had slowly stretched until it was gone completely.

The girl looked disheartened by that. She had no idea why Tsunade had such a bad opinion about the toads, they'd never been anything but kind and helpful to her. Maybe she just didn't like them. 'Then I'll get you some good sake next time we go out of the grounds.' she finally concluded with a bright smile. At least she could be sure the older woman would brighten at that.

Tsunade didn't look up at her, but the smile that looked quite as bright. 'You bet you will.' After all she went through with those little hellcats she surely deserved some for her hard work. Seriously, one would think that Daichi and Kushina actually would make a good marriage one day.


	16. Chapter 16

The dead giveaway that this can't be good presents itself in the fact that she's wearing the Pink Kimono. Yes, that one, with the soft pink folds and darker cherry blossom pattern and the huge rose obi that never stays right and ends up falling away and trailing behind like the broken wings of a crushed butterfly - did she mention it's pink? Because she hated pink.

She's trying to explain this to Moroshita; that it's useless to try and get the thing right because she knows it's going to fall off, and then mother will scold her for trailing the expensive fabric on the ground when it is such a beautiful gift from father. And besides it's not like if she even likes it- or that she wants to wear it at all, but no matter how many times she complains about it, Moroshita keeps wrapping the obi around her, thicker and thicker, and she can't move-

'Moroshita-'

'The fish usually starts to rot from its head.' Sabaku - and definitely not Morshita - tells her as he keeps spinning the obi around and there's definitely something very wrong if she's wearing a kimono and the future Kazekage of Suna is the one in charge of placing the obi in place.

'Sabaku-sama, I don't know what that means.' she says (or tries to say, only she's recently lost a tooth so it sounds more like 'Thabaku-thama' and she feels like a retard, not just because she's for some reason so much younger than him but because even when she hadn't been, if there had been one person in the whole world she didn't want to see her in such a ridiculous outfit, that was (or at least had been) her sempai.

'You are the head.' he growls at her like when he-did-that-thing in the border 'You are the one with the lips, you should have told me the truth!'

'What truth?' she asks, but damn, truth is hard to pronounce when there is a gap on your front teeth.

'You know, the one you didn't tell me.'

'What truth is that?'

'You know.'

'No, I don't.'

'Yes you do, you just pretend you don't.' Minato is getting annoyed with this sort of useless conversation and even worse, dizzy with the continuous spinning of the band at her waist. 'Sempai, I assure you that I have no idea what you talk about. Moreover, if you are so sure you know of this whatever we are supposed to talk about, you should just tell me so we could discuss it and be done with this matter.' And she feels very smart after saying that speech, very smart and mature and appraisable.

'Why bother?' the older teen says sullenly. 'You wouldn't get it.'

'Why not?'

'You are just a woman.' And that's when she starts looking for the heaviest blunt object she has around to smash it on his face, but her hands get caught on the pink sleeves and then there are things that are definitely not right because as hard as she struggles she isn't getting her hands to move, only flap the obi uselessly. And there is something terribly wrong because they are still pink, but now it's way, way paler and there are these weird membrane things all over it-

And then (THEN!) she understands the horrible truth… he is right! She is the fish, she's a fucking pink trout – correct that, she's a trout HEAD - and over her Uzumaki is standing with her hands on her hips. 'You want me to revive this?' she was asking someone unseen.'It's missing parts and rotting already, besides, who told her to bite her own head off?' She moved her lips and flapped around as wildly as she could to try and tell Kushina that trout's didn't have teeth to begin with, and biting her own head was physically impossible, but the redhead just picked her up and tossed her to the trash. ***

The quiet atmosphere of the room is interrupted with a loud noise as the body falls from the bed and onto the floor, being immediately resumed afterwards. It took a moment for mess of yellow to emerge from the pile of messy blanket,

'What the…' she gasped, flipping the switch of the beside lamp and looking around as if expecting to find Moroshita, or maybe Sabaku around, ready to pounce on her and wrap her in pink silk and tuna fat, or whatever type of fat trout had. All she found were the remaining sheets on the bed and crumpled candy bar wrapper and half-empty bag of candy she'd been munching on before nodding off. It crunched softly as she gripped it with a trembling hand.

'No more sugar before bed.' she mumbled to herself, peeling the shirt off her body with the other hand and wincing at just how sweaty she was after that. Dropping the candy bag, she eyed the digital clock on her table - 3AM. Too early to start the day and she was not ready to go back to bed. Wincing at the feeling of the wet shirt sticking to her she just dropped it off and looked around her clothes until she found a simple t-shirt. Her pants were her next discovery, followed by the track jacket, but unfortunately the headband she used eluded her. She'd have to buy some more on the convenience store. Maybe after a dozen laps around the grounds.

Damn. A trout head. Maybe two dozen. Pink. With a visible shudder, she put the weights in place and jumped off the window. Four dozen laps sounded like a good option..

The blonde came to a halt from the loose trot she'd been using these four laps only when she actually touched the vending machine, leaning against it as she breathed hard. 'I made it.' she told no one in particular as she grinned to herself. Yep, she had. All forty eight laps and two extras, all before sundown and she was still standing on her own even if she couldn't quite move right now and her legs sort of felt like if they would disentangle on the ankles and the knees… Still one piece, not pulled a muscle, and she hadn't fainted… She deserved it.

She knew what she'd promised, but now she was too hyped to want to go back to bed, and the sun would come up in an hour or less, so it was totally fine to buy herself a Topimaru. The brand of the drink was probably about to go bankrupt because of poor advertising and the fact the people who drank it couldn't bear with the extreme sweetness, the extra fizz and the fact it looked like something you could use to clean chemical burns. It was only natural that a can of the neon green substance would be something Minato considered the perfect reward to start a day.

It was supposedly done with lime and apple extract and some other queasy naturalistic crap no one really believed it had and just about a supermarket's worth list of chemicals and artificial sweeteners, but Minato didn't try to pretend it was healthy either way, so it all worked out in the end.

Fishing several coins from her pocket, she quickly pushed them in and selected the brand, taking advantage of the pause the machine did to swallow the change and process her selection to wipe the short hair off her face and unzip her jacket to cool off some. She was hot enough to want to just take the damned thing off, but if she cooled too fast she'd probably get sick to her stomach or something, and drinking this beverage was a risk on one's health already, so… no need to tempt luck.

She brushed the bangs off her face again, noting that she really needed to buy those hair ties because as usual her hair was doing that thing of being all over the place regardless of what she wanted to do with it, and it wasn't until she had already opened her can and taken the first victory sip that she realized that the person sitting across from the machine was Sabaku. For a second she had the incredibly strong urge to just toss the can at his head, but then she remembered she couldn't exactly hurt him for something he had said on her dreams, so she smiled instead.

'Good morning, Sabaku-sama.'

Daichi shot her a glare that didn't seem very appropriate for the place he was sitting, then he slowly rested his cup and stood up to bend in the formal stance. 'I see that you're back from your trip, Namikaze-sama. It's good to see you well. Please, serve me with your commands once we're back into our natural way of studying.' Then he slumped and sat on the bench like if he had done the most useless work on the world and grabbed his cup to drink even more from it. His eyes once again strayed to the chuunin grounds, ignoring the other's presence.

For some reason the honorific stuck a note inside her. The kind of note emitted by a cat whose tail has just been stepped on. Weird thing, as it was what she was usually called by trainees and underclassmen from her village, but to hear the older man call her that just felt wrong as when she got called 'Minato-chan'. Maybe even worse than 'Princess'.

She thought about what she could answer to that, but came out empty handed - she didn't know when talking to another human had gotten this complicated, but she was pretty sure she didn't like it. At loss of what else to do, she simply took another sip of brain-numbing cold sweetness and waited to see if she'd be able to get another clue as to what was she supposed to answer to such a comment.

For a moment, nothing had changed. The shouts of the grounds sounded through the air and the wind blew just as before. The cup with milk was rose once, twice, its contents tasted. Now it was only half full – or half empty, depending on how one would look at it. Black hawkish eyes never left the ground once they were glued to it again.

'Do I have something on my face?' was spoken up suddenly 'Or is there something urgent I was supposed to do and yet I didn't? I apologize, I'm not a decent ninja when it comes to telepathic orders.'

The blonde still didn't reply for a few seconds, but eventually decided that saying something would be better.

'I was just thinking I don't know how to talk to you anymore.' She said as she looked down at her can, twisting the metal tab back and forth a couple times. 'It seems whatever I say just makes our conversation worse.' And when said conversations amounted to maybe a hundred-something words, that was a sort of record…

Daichi didn't move. 'I'm sorry, Minato-sama, that must be my fault.' He muttered in a cheesed off tone 'I'm not used to talking to women so I might misinterpret the commands. Forgive me my ignorance.'

The tab snapped. Minato gave it a surprised look, as if she wondered what it was doing, then dropped it in the nearby trashcan. 'You don't seem to have any problems understanding Uzumaki.'

Daichi's eyes moved to the snapped tab also, but he lost interest as quickly as they moved up to finally look at the face of the blonde. 'We're teammates.' He said. He could add that sometimes he didn't understand her at all and that sometimes he would gladly get her more as the interesting subject to study, but she didn't let him or that sometimes he would gladly snap her neck just as that tab and that most likely he would give a hand or leg to protect her life. His own life was still a little too much for that annoying redhead, but he knew that he wouldn't mind dragging the wooden leg with him if there was no other way but to sacrifice a limb.

And that it was somewhat special, because as much as others were ready to give their lives for him he wasn't ready to spare them his glance. Or that she was a woman and the woman who never looked down when she saw him or the one who never stopped when it came to hitting him across the face when the toughest men had their second thoughts about touching the Third's pupil. He could – but he didn't think he would. For as long as he was around the new Minato he noticed a bit of changes here and there, but about one thing he was sure – the emptiness in her eyes when he talked about feelings was still the same. There was no use to talk about it.

The blonde looked up at that, her expression curious. 'She's still a woman.' she pointed out helpfully, as if that fact had somehow been missed by the older man. She could also had pointed out that back when she'd been younger Daichi hadn't had a problem with talking to her, but he wouldn't get it and she didn't want to explain it to him either way.

Daichi sat frozen for a moment, then turned back with his head toward the shouting voices of chuunins. 'She is.' He said with an agreeable tone 'But there are women and women. You see…' He drank up a bit of milk. It was now lukewarm, not very nice for a liquid of that kind. 'There are angels and demons. Kushina is quite a hellcat, I admit. A very, very hard to get hellcat.' He stopped, then looked at the sky where some lazy bird was making a slow journey. Not a ninja animal. It could be seen by the trajectory of its fly. '… but she is not a bitch. And its bitches I don't get along with, Minato-sama. That's the difference.'

The blonde didn't look away from the older nin as he spoke, and waited a moment to make sure the redhead had nothing else to add before nodding.

'I see.' she said as if the redhead had actually explained something that made sense to her, mostly because she had been taught one was supposed to give some sort of reply when in a conversation, not because she actually saw anything.

Apparently she had graduated from 'whore' to 'bitch', but whatever she had done to earn either of those titles she had no idea. Whatever Uzumaki had done to be on his good graces, she also didn't know or care to find out. Nodding again, she took another sip of the soft drink.

Daichi smiled sadly. The sky had still the beautiful color of her eyes. He was sure it was exactly this and not other way around. 'I don't think you do…' he said quietly. 'Such a shame, Minato-sama.'

'Ah…' the blonde gave her now empty can a mournful look, using her finger to chase a stray drop around the brim and liking it off. Too bad, she could only have two a week, sensei said any more would make her stomach melt. 'I'm sorry. I guess I really don't.' Before when she hadn't understood things she'd had sensei or Daichi to ask things, but sensei was mad at her and Daichi hated her. She pondered on this as she chased another drop the same way she'd done the first.

The lips of the man had sealed shut in the tight, white line. But of course. Of course. He stood up and drank the rest of the milk in a chain of quick swallows and threw the cup away in one shot. 'I'm sorry, I have the job to do.' He said in much louder tone than usual. Then he moved right onto her 'So please… move, Minato-sama.' And even as she moved away, he reached out at her arm and pushed her hard enough to tip her balance for a second or two, not even glancing back as he moved away.

He did such things with Kushina and they were anything but a friendly play camouflaged, but this time he put a lot more strength into it, actually making it possible to hurt if he managed to sweep her off her feet. But he doubted he would, because he was not even trying and she was not an ordinary ninja. If she didn't understand subtle wording maybe the physical actions would speak more for her.

The younger girl blinked confusedly at the fact she was leaning against the machine and as such, entirely out of any sort of path he needed to take - even opened her mouth to point this out to him- but then he pushed her hard enough to push her off balance. It wouldn't have mattered much normally, but her legs were still weak after all that exercise with the added training weights, and as soon as she caught her footing a cramp shot all the way up her tight, her hand reaching to grasp the edge of the vending machine as she let out a surprised intake of breath in reaction to the pain more than the action itself.

The blonde stared after him, one hand rubbing lightly at her tight to alleviate the pain. For a moment –for a very long moment- she was perversely tempted to just let him go back to work and have him enjoy some more of Tsunade's gentle and enlightening tutelage. In fact, two or even three more weeks of it sounded like a good, solid number. But no… that would be petty. And like it as not, three jounins got paid more than one. Well… two of them. Either way, she'd better make her mind up because he was almost out of ear range and she was not in the mood for a chase. 'Sabaku-sama?'

The man hadn't stopped instantly. Only after three more steps he had finally ceased moving and when he did, he immediately spun around so he could see the blonde. Not enough to show his chest though – his feet were still pointing the destination where he was heading. So, it was now 'Sabaku-sama.'. For his own leader to call him that it felt ridiculous, but he was no one to complain. Not anyone got the privilege to hear such words after all. 'At your command.'

If she dared to.

'How kind of you.' the blonde said, still frowning lightly at him. 'Would you please come back here so we can finish speaking?'

Daichi's eyebrows rose, but his face kept the flat, bored look. Talking? We are pretty much done talking. 'I don't see why should I.' he answered with blatant tone 'I don't have anything else to say on the matter.'

The blonde smiled sunnily despite the pain she still felt, possibly because she knew it would irritate him. 'How convenient, I was planning to address topics of actual relevance to training.' that is if the new and improved Sabaku no Daichi ever actually did anything besides having mostly one-sided bouts of philosophy concerning her femaleness and thus inherent inferiority.

Snap. He felt something cracking through his skull and for a one single moment his vision went from normal to white and from white to red. When it was gone, he noticed that he had curled both of his palms into fists so hard that his – so very short – nails bit through his skin and actually made blood flowing along his fingers in two or three droplets. How did that happen? He couldn't tell. (except he could but he would rather not.)

In silence, he slowly turned around and walked back to the blonde. He saw how strangely she stood, propped against the vending machine like if actually moving legs hurt her. It might have been possible. She had this obscene obsession with running and that had to finally vent out somewhere – overtraining was never a light thing. 'I'm listening.' He said.

The blonde actually considered walking a little further away, because all of the sudden there seemed to be a sort of black miasma developing around the redhead, the kind of things that made flowers wilt at close contact. But the pain was finally easing and he was already there, so moving away wouldn't make much sense. 'Tsunade-sensei thinks you two have gotten to a point where you already are able to handle the basics on your own, so the team will starts taking missions again.'

Daichi had only but blinked. 'How kind of Tsunade-sama to consider us worthy.' He muttered quietly. Then he had leaned even more forward, like if he couldn't see the blonde's face too well. Which was actually absurd. 'But what do you think of it, Namikaze-sama?'

I think the sooner we get this settled the sooner I can get rid of the two of you. she thought, followed by another moment of puzzlement over the fact he was making such a big deal of it. Oh well.

'I think the best way to get the debts paid is to take as many well paid jobs as possible in the shortest amount of time,' she said instead continuing to smile lightly. 'That's why it would be convenient for you to rank up to jounin.' It's not like if the redhead hadn't already been taking missions as one, but legalizing the situation would only make paperwork easier and the team more attractive to strangers. 'I understand there are ways to rank up within the Suna system? Or would it be easier for you to just take a standard exam when it's held in Thunder?'

Daichi's face had taken the simultaneous mimic of genuinely surprised person. 'What?'

The blonde stopped to give the taller man a look as if wondering if she'd asked for something particularly complicated to explain. 'You are still ranked as a chuunin in your official data.' She elaborated. 'I know that for your exam it won't make a difference, but you would be getting paid more as you'd be hired as a ninja of elite rank, both for missions and for your time at the hospital.' Well, technically he wouldn't be getting *paid* anything for anything he did… it just meant that whatever he did would be worth more and thus take less time to cover the expanses he owed.

Daichi's mimic seemed to be frozen in place, because his light surprise didn't even cease a bit. 'What?' he repeated again in a parrot-like manner. 'What did you say?'

The blonde was starting to wonder if she should have brought some paper and ink and just drawn a graph. 'If you make jounin… anything you do will be worth more money… and then it will take less time to cover the debts.' She said very slowly. She really didn't know what was so hard to understand about the concept.

Something went by Daichi's eyes because they suddenly stopped being glued in place and started moving, like if they were chasing little bunnies all over her face. 'What are you talking about, you whore?' he muttered in the same tone, though his voice died at the word of curse, like if his throat was dying of thirst 'I'm not making… I'm not doing…' He stopped at the broken talk and smiled at her with full toothy smile. It looked more like if he was showing off his fangs than smiling.

'I haven't seen a penny of what I was making since you pushed me into this shit!' he roared straight into her face. By the volume of his voice one would think he was trying to scream through the unexpected thunderstorm. 'If you're so keen on ending this thing sooner then go take some sleeping pills to have days passing quicker because I'm not making it any easier for you!'

The blonde jerked away a little at the ex-abrupt, slowly digesting what the other had said, against that stupid adjective seeming to get caught on her brain like a jammed door that stopped everything. Like a switched off light, the amiable expression dropped and Minato was left staring at him the same way she would look at a bag full of rocks some idiot had decided she had to carry.

'Easier on me?' she asked softly, slowly crossing her eyes in front of her. 'What about yourself, Sabaku-sama? It seems you have had a good time making things easier on yourself, have you not?'

Her eyes narrowed more as she glared back at him. 'You act as if all of this were my fault. But the one who was getting overpaid for doing nothing was you. The one who spent three years parading in front of future enemies, allies and employers doing nothing and proud of it was you. The one who is letting his future soldiers- the people that should believe in you considering you might as well send them to die!- are seeing you pick up fights with other Villages, take money you didn't earn and acting as if you were too good to finish your own missions was *you*, not me.'

Finally breaking eye contact, she looked to the side and away, leaning back more comfortably in the machine. 'If someone else from Suna had done such a thing you would have been the first person to punish him, Sabaku-sama. And you would have been considered it weeding out. What would you think as a Suna shinobi if you knew the next Kazekage acted in such a shameful way?'

He looked at her. At her blonde lashes, at her boyish figure, at the neck that seemed to be fragile and easy to kiss and snap at the same time, her almost nonexistent boobs and hips that didn't show at all… BANG! And then he saw his fist deeply hidden inside the vending machine, where the frozen air blew over it, making him feel too warm outside. 'I think.' He hissed right into her hair as he leaned over so close he could easily pin her under him 'That the vending machine is broken. Don't stand so close to it, you might get hurt, Namikaze-sama.' Then he had slowly moved his hand out and pushed her again, much more roughly this time as he went off to the direction of hospital's wing.

Minato didn't flinch or move, just kept staring away from him despite the fact the cold air was now streaming right down the neck of her shirt. She had meant every word she had told the older nin but that didn't change the fact she didn't know what had caused this change on him, or what to do to fix it.


	17. Chapter 17

The remaining day the bones were broken twenty two times. Five times at the wrong place. Seventeen of them were done without the simplest painkillers being involved. The doctor said something to him to be more delicate, but he didn't hear him. All he saw was the fragile neck and snap! There went another bone. At least he was not shaken enough to try to kiss his hallucination.

When the day had ended, he was spent and much less angry than he was at the beginning of it, but the acid had stayed. It felt almost like if she had tied him, shut his jaws and broke his claws to not be any more dangerous and now he felt the angry hits of the whip against his back. How long it will take until the dangerous wild beast Daichi will break and will start hopping through the ring fueled with fire on every command? Let's see, ladies and gentlemen!

What rights did she have to point that at him? No rights at all. And as she was a woman it felt even more shameful, to be pointed at him like that. She had no rights to judge him as he didn't judge her. But maybe it was the highest time to do that. To stop hiding and just come and face whatever was given to see and decide. Who had the upper hand here? His memory or his feelings?

He started writing another letter to the Third, but stopped in the middle as he saw that he wrote the same formulas again and again, without much improvement. This made no sense. The Third would not even read through the letter if he saw such idiocy written in it. With a sigh he had curled the paper into a ball and threw it away. This night, despite being tired to the point of fainting, was spent sleepless.

There was a knock at the window, that as usual was just meant so the person on the other side wouldn't get mauled before stepping in, which she did as she kicked off her sandals and left them at the sill. 'Hey, jackass.' a warm plastic bag was thrown at his head. 'Your forgot to do your work right. And have lunch. Or dinner.'

'It's not your business.' Was muttered back 'Get out of here, buxom.' The latter was only added as a habit, without much feeling to it. He really did forget to eat food, but it was because he couldn't concentrate on eating. But as his nerves had calmed down, the smell of the meal had disturbed his nostrils enough to make him want to eat it. He looked inside the bag. 'Oh, please. Only you could get me this.' He said in an ironic tone. 'Fat on oil with an ad of butter. With meat to add the taste.' That didn't stop him from munching on the treat.

'Sorry, they were out of doggie treats at the store.' the redhead said trying to bounce as she flopped down on the redhead's bed and failing because of how stiff the mattress was. Were all sunanins masochists? 'I'll try fish feed next time.' She said, grinning evilly at the older man, before wincing as fish was now a word that hurt her in her psyche when she thought about it. 'Blondie was at the hospital just now.'

'I'll be sure to vomit it back on your clothes.' Answered the man, continuously munching on the held piece. What else could she do if not to get onto his bed? She knew that he hated when she touched his private stuff and she did just that. How lovely. 'Did she die?'

'Nah, just pulled a muscle.' It would have been nice to see a pristine white sheet to slowly go over her face as some doctor or other shook his head and mumbled 'what a pity, so young' or something. 'The Boobmaister fixed it, but it sounded like if it hurt.' That part had been nice. Definitely rewarding after the disaster Daichi had left on his wake before they chased him off the hospital. 'We are having a mission the day after tomorrow.' she sprawled herself more comfortably, just so the perfume of her shampoo would rub all over his stuff. 'Are you coming?'

Daichi had only shrugged. 'Depends what is it about. I'm not running for her if she can't.'

'No idea, she just said it was a mission, likely over a week's worth of time.'

Daichi had glanced over the redhead, but turned back to eating. The stuff was good and it tasted the better as it was still warm, but hell was freezing over and he would not admit it out loud even then. 'Are you?'

Kushina grabbed at a long strand of rose hair and stuck it on her mouth, blue eyes stuck on the ceiling. The brush flew over the room and hit her over the nose. It wasn't a hard hit, but hard enough to get anyone's attention. 'If you are laying on my bed begging to be raped you can as well answer me before I start doing you.'

'Haha, as if you could get it hard for a woman.' The girl said humorlessly as she rubbed at her forehead, drawing her arm back to throw the brush back at the other, but then just shrugging and laying back in bed. "I'm going.' It's not like if she had an option. Her relationship with other members from her country had never been good, but now… if they didn't see her doing something to cover that debt, they would kill her.

Daichi had looked at her for a moment. Oh, such an obnoxious badmouth she was. He despised every kind of women that didn't go according his teachings, mostly because untamed species weren't tamed. And gods in heavens knew how much of a trouble could such a element be set free. He slowly rose up from his chair. So, another woman thought she could take it on him.

'You'd be surprised.' He muttered slowly as he licked his front teeth, lost in thought. Surely, women were problematic and if anything, they troubled him with their little secrets, but they were nothing compared to Minato. If Kushina was mysterious, then Minato was enigma with key lost in Atlantic seas. He didn't understand her at all and it was even worst as it seemed that she was set out to only hurt him and make him bend his head until he bit on the sands.

The sheets had made a soft sound as he sat on them. They felt cold against his fingers. 'You and your sinful plays taken straight from the Lesbos island…' he muttered as he leaned over her. She had quite a cup when it came to breasts – so different from Minato's flat chest. It felt different and if anything, more alien. He kept his chest at the small distance from them and from the whole body 'Someday a man will cry after your tastes in choices.'

Then he brushed his hand over her cheek with a caressing gesture, just as he did when he was with the blonde. Strangely, the skin of both women felt very alike – both were soft and slick. He smiled at the memory. 'Get out of my bed or I'll pretend you're someone else.'

She smiled at that. As if she hadn't made enough men cry so far in her life. 'Don't worry, when I get a man I really like, I'll make sure to at least let him watch.' Kushina kept playing with the strand of hair as the redhead crawled over her, slowly rising a questioning eyebrow as the only sort of reaction. It wasn't unusual for Daichi to threaten to have sex with her against her will, not that he'd ever actually gone ahead with such threats…

Though if that was due lack of interest, manners, breeding or simply the fact he knew that it would be ill advised to leave any sensitive part of his anatomy close to an unwilling Kushina would be hard to determine. What was unusual was for him to look at her the way he was. Let alone touch her so gently. 'Dai, baby… please tell me you aren't hard for blondie.' She said, not doing anything to return or pull away from the caress. 'She's crazy. She hates you. She ruined our life… And she looks like she's twelve. It's icky, love.'

The redhead looked at her in silence, for a moment caressing the cheek only. She didn't bite his hand off. What a surprise. But trying again would probably result in some ugly scars there. He stopped and leaned back. 'I'm not having hots for her.' He muttered, looking to the side and watching dots on the wall 'Not anymore.'

If it was true, he didn't know, but he wished it was. Because the blonde had hurt him, hurt him deeply, bended him so low he had looked into insides of hell underground. She had no reasons and no rights too. He licked his front teeth again and looked back at the redhead again. Strawberry hair looked appalling, as usual. Funny, he had almost the same shade. Only different. 'I has stopped understanding her. She had changed.'

And so did he, but he still remembered the sweet little blonde whom he cuddled and kissed. It was such a different image from her ill intentions now.

Oh, story time?

'I heard stuff around the academy, especially when I got here.' Kushina quickly turned around so she was lying on her stomach popped herself up on her elbows, cupping her cheeks as she looked down at the older man next to her. Like hell she'd leave a chance like this go away. 'How the hell did you manage to score with a preteen girl without Leaf-nins neutering you for it? I thought they were pretty strict as far as age of consent went.'

Not that there were similar rules on Water country… Just that very few actually held to them. Tropical weather and scantily clad toned bodies did mess up with one's hormones. But still... icky. The girl really did look like if she'd just started to hit puberty.

'You would like to know, huh.' He said with a sneer. 'You women always have to know everything…' So was his mother, so is his grandmother and so were all girls he met. Maybe except a few weird ones. And Minato. But Minato was weird so it didn't count. For a moment he thought about brushing her off, but to tell the truth, he really didn't want to. But he also didn't want to talk with her. It still was too fresh to treat it like an old story. 'I'm not a pedophile.' He muttered as he leaned on his elbows on the bed. He looked at the ceiling. 'I didn't score. I don't have time for sex as much as you would like to think of me.'

Kushina stared at that. Stared for an unusual amount of time for someone like hr to be silent through. '...you serious?'

The redhead looked back at her with a smile upon his lips. 'Of course not. I had some sexual appetizers here and there. I have to use life when I'm growing up.'

The long-haired redhead smacked him lightly on the chest, as if he'd been joking. 'I meant about Blondie. Everyone thought you'd been lovers. Hell, I heard she left because you knocked her up.'

Daichi looked at her and slowly moved his gaze toward the ceiling again. 'Doctors said it was a girl and that it's too late to remove her.' He said in a thoughtful tone 'But she went and did it her way – I'm not sure how.'

'Really?' if that was true then they could get totally rid of Minato! Abortion was prohibited in just about every village, and if word came to her superiors about it...

'Really.' Said Daichi and shot her an ugly, sour look. Then he's got up from the bed and sat up at the desk again. He had to write that letter one day. He could as well start today. 'Get out of my bed.'

Kushina stared some more, her expression turning sour. 'Fine, you didn't do her… Then why are you so nice to her?' It didn't make sense! Daichi hated women in general and women close to him in particular, but then there was this underdeveloped little psycho he didn't so much as dare to *touch*?

'If anyone else had done half of what she did, hell, if some woman, even from your own village had done one quarter of it you would have murdered her and convinced me to help you dispose of the body! Does she know some horrifying secret of yours you don't want her to spill or something?'

Daichi had stilled. What was he supposed to say to that? He didn't even tolerate the blonde without an urge to knock her pretty teeth out after ten minutes. That was a good question. 'I guess I'm having just a change of a heart.' He said simply and started scribbling on the paper. The feather left long, soft lines.

Kushina glared at the redhead, not moving from her spot. 'Bastard, will you talk to me? I'm suffering here too, you know? Only I didn't canoodle my enemies for years so I don't know anything exploitable about her.' She rolled her eyes at that, twirling a long strand of strawberry red on her finger. 'Why is she so mad at you as to do this? If you and Blondie say you weren't together, I don't see any reason for her to come back just to piss you off.'

Daichi had only shrugged again. Why were everyone asking him why she was mad? He had no idea why, he couldn't remember doing anything to piss her off. That was the whole problem with the blonde. 'I have no idea. Ask her for a change.'

'Yeah, because I'm so sure she's gonna be any more helpful than you are…' she leaned back down in bed, her chin pillowed by her arms.

Daichi didn't answer that. He didn't have to. It was obvious she wouldn't. Getting out of her anything was like trying to get through a wall with a pair of scissors. She had changed so much.

Kushina waited for some sort of reply, but oddly enough, none came. It really wasn't like Daichi to act like this and no matter how she looked at it, it was starting to disturb her. 'What are we gonna do?' It's not like if they'd been left with many options. Either they did what Blondie told them to or they became missing nins. Well, not Daichi, Daichi had a freaking country ready to vouch for him, but as far as a no one like her went…

Daichi had stopped the writing for a moment, then looked out of the window. The thin line of the moon reminded him that there would be new moon the next night. He looked back at the letter. It looked like if they were stuck pretty much. He could do what she wanted him to… or he could do what she wanted them to. There were no good options left. It stung. 'I don't think there's anything we can do.' He muttered finally.

And without Daichi to back her up, the matter was really sealed up. 'We could kill her on the next mission, you know.' she suggested helpfully, turning to give the redhead a brilliant smile. 'Then elope. I'm sure our villages would be thrilled.'

The man had looked at her with dubious stare. 'I don't think that would work.' He muttered through his hand as he hid his mouth in his hand he had propped his head onto. 'Firstly because no man on the planet can ever satisfy a lesbian and I'm no exception, and secondly… there would have been more than us to kill her.' Not to say that he doubted that if it was up to him, he probably wouldn't be able to make the feral move. He wanted to hurt her sometimes, true. But to kill her? His aggression wasn't up to this level yet. Yet.

'Well,' Kushina was silent for another moment. 'Her scrawny neck looks breakable. All of her does, for the matter.' Or at least what little of her she'd seen so far. The girl literally didn't seem to have any sort of curves to account for. 'And you could always be the wife.'

Daichi had smiled ironically. 'I think I'm too well built to play the role of a wife.' He muttered and then, just to prove it to himself, he flexed his arm to show the most known muscle on the world 'I'm made to have harem, not to make it. And as for her…' He remembered the nice built he had chance to touch through their encounters in the past. 'It's bendy. You won't get anywhere with a crack.'

Silence, again, though of a different kind. When the younger woman turned again to look at him, it was with a leer. 'So... Blondie is bendy in fun places?'

Daichi had stared at her in response with disgust. 'She has bones much harder than they look like. Hold your perverted horses.' She was sometimes more lecherous than this white-haired ass of a sensei. Jiraiya, that was his name.

'Hey, you are the one who knocked up a thirteen year old, not me.' And besides, even if she did like girls that way every so often, Blondeeie definitely was several pounds and years away from any of the sort of females she favored.

Daichi had only hissed in response. What was with women that they were so hard to stand? If it wasn't for that they were much more interesting than men he'd probably start to think about becoming the first unmarried Kazekage in the history. 'I told you I didn't knock her up. We never got that far.' His jaw clicked as he shut it. To be exact that was what got him into troubles in the first place. If she hadn't got her period he would probably discover it by searching for sexual stimulation sooner or later. She believed him, not that she wouldn't use it to tease him in the future. If Daichi had smexed Blondie he wouldn't have cared about her knowing or not. And besides… 'She said you two were never together.'

At that point something resembling a thin line went through the man's face. It looked almost like a crack on the mask he never wore. But even if one wanted to look closer, there was no chance, because the man had almost immediately bended forward, like if his backbone had suddenly gave up. 'What? No, no, no…' he started muttering and it sounded more like a mantra. The longer he went the more it looked like one. Though in reality it were only a chain of pitiful moans. '…no, no, no, no, no!'

At the last word he banged both of his hands on the desk, making the furniture jump and spilling all ink on his letter and feather, and also his knees. But he didn't seem to notice that. 'So much for everything we did, yes?' he hissed through his teeth and curled his hands into even tighter fists. Splinters had moved and the holes the sizes of his hands had showed on the surface of the desk 'So that's what it was? Nothing?'

'Daichi!' Kushina reacted by instinct, and she would be the first person in the world to say that wasn't smart, especially in her current situation, but that's just how she was. Act first and think later, and all it occurred to her at that moment was jump from the beg and hug herself to the redhead's back, her hands grabbing at his wrists. 'What are you doing? Calm down!'

The man had slowly turned toward her. His eye had showed not only pain but also raw savageness. What did she want from here? Like in slow motion, but without a moment of hesitation he stood up, freed his hands and caught her by her own wrists. He didn't think much. With the same force, he turned her and banged against the desk as hard as he would with a dangerous enemy. Ink seeped through her hair like blood through the sand. He closed the distance, baring his teeth. 'I don't care what she told you!' he hissed 'But I forbid you to repeat such lies to anyone else! Do you understand?'

Just to show his point he banged the girl against the surface of the desk again. A mockery of what Third did with him not so long ago. Somehow, his whole aggression had to find a way out. Kushina just stood in the wrong place at the worst possible moment. But he could still channel it somewhere else I she didn't want to play a punching bag.

Of course, Kushina being Kushina, did the only thing she could do. 'The hell is wrong with you, you PMSing bastard?' she cried as she jerked her knee back and slammed it on his stomach as hard as she could. It was probably a testimony to their closeness that she refrained from doing that between his legs and chose the slightly higher option of the man's stomach.

And that was a smart move. There was no way one would train his insides so it caused pain also to Daichi even if he trained his stomach muscles to protect them the best he could. But this rage was boiling in him for the past few weeks without having any possibility to vent out. He was young and filled up with testosterone to the tilt of his neck. So, when he felt his liver going up his lungs along with his stomach and intestines, he let out a pained cough in which he spat the saliva in his mouth straight onto the girl in front of him.

But his hold was clenched so hard he didn't let go. He doubted that even if she had cut his throat just a moment before would he let go. In a quick move he rose her up and banged against the next wall. The books from his shelves fell on the floor, along with something made of glass, because he heard the characteristic crunch. He didn't check what it was, only rose his hands curled just to the point they resembled hard pieces of stones and directed it just at his teammate. 'What's wrong? Everything's wrong! I'm a freaking Mad Hatter!'

The woman blinked back tears as her head was the unfortunate object to hit the back of the wall first, bright white dots dancing on her eyes. 'Yeah, I noticed.' she hissed quietly, wanting to rub her head or at least wipe the spit off her face, and she gave a tug at one of her hands to indicate she'd very much appreciate being released so she could do so. 'Take a deep breath and count until one hundred, jackass. You are not doing yourself any favors.'

'Do you think you're in position to tell me what to do? Huh?' was hissed as the man closed the distance between them and started practically roaring at her face. 'I hate all womankind! They exist to make me miserable! Do you think you're any better than this because you're a lesbian? I'll tell you something – you're wrong!' He was obviously searching for any reason to just start hitting her. Just the tiny spark of something that would anger him to the point of no return.

'I don't think I'm better, I know I am!' was yelled right back at his face as the woman's already short and rather flammable fuse immediately ignited. 'Because from the two of us the only one having a bout of hysterics is you! So don't come to me complaining about women ruining your life because the one acting like one nonstop since Blondie got here is you!'

Daichi moved his lips, but no response came. Instead of that, his skin dropped a few tones in the skin colors. She called him a woman. He didn't know about the other countries, but in his homeland it was a rather heavy curse. And as far as he knew Kushina, she probably knew. He closed his hands around the girl's wrists even harder, the grip that would surely make a nice bouquet of flowers wilt.

And then, without a warning, he moved her from the wall and tossed her on the floor along with himself, crushing her. Sure, it wasn't maybe the smartest move as his knees had bumped on the wood and got hurt in the process, but at this position he could control her the most – his body weight was a steady proof for that.

'The only problem I see here now is you.' He said in a hushed, dark tone. Then, as if the bomb went up, his eyes lit up with anger 'Do you think I don't see how you look at her? Stay away from her, or I'll make you regret the day of your birth!' At the words, he crossed her hands and started pulling. He didn't care what it exactly did. He just wanted to hear the bones cracking.

And now she was actually starting to get scared. Not because he was hurting her because there wasn't a week where he didn't hurt her and she hurt him back. Their relationship was just a very physical thing; no, the problem was the way he was acting.

She'd come see him because after he came back from a little break he started mangling the patients so bad he got kicked out, and then he looked himself in his room without going out for lunch or dinner. And Daichi, like every man, liked to eat, it just wasn't normal for him to do so. And she wasn't surprised, because there was nothing normal about how he was acting at all.

He was accusing her of having even a passing interest on that underdeveloped midget? Her? 'Fuck- Daichi, SNAP OUT OF IT!' Jerking her head back, she reached back as hard and quickly as she could, slamming her forehead against his face.

The first hit didn't faze him at all, and neither did second and third. The fourth one missed, and the fifth one had only brushed past his cheek. It was only the sixth that made his nose bleed and the soft gristle crunch in his face suspiciously he had groaned in pain and loosened the hold on the girl. What she talked about might've sense but he didn't want to understand her. So he simply hit her across the back with his fist – only once, but at the center of the place where the backbone and hips crossed and leaned over without much force included. The blood dripped from his nose to his mouth and from there on her arms, hair, floor. 'If you won't stop tossing around I'll see what can I do with my sexual frustration as well.'

'You think I'm just going to lay around while you try to break my arms?' Was he really out of his mind?

'Shut up.' Was the answer. Then, after a long still silence: 'Shut up, I said!' She didn't do anything to make him repeat the sentence, but he somehow felt compelled to say it. He said it with less force though. His anger slowly stopped roaring, but it was only a moment of questioning. He could jump back into action in any moment. He didn't really push through his feelings, but he saw it was a blind road – this led him nowhere and just left a bitter taste. He looked across the room. His only photograph with his dead teammates lied on the floor in the mess of glass pieces. 'Snow' he thought. That's how it looked like.

Kushina stayed quiet for a moment as his eyes roamed around the room, his grip on her wrists relaxing a bit, which actually made them start too hurt a lot more because circulation was starting to set back in. 'Look, bastard.' she said in what she hoped was a good and very convincing tone. 'I get it, you had a shitty day. Let's get dressed and we'll go to a bar and you can get drunk or something, I'll even walk you. Just… calm down and come back to reality.'

The male looked at her in silence. She talked like if he had went out of his body and turned into someone else. A madman or something. It was true that anger blinded him to the point where he just couldn't see nothing but rage. Some said it was a berserk, but they were wrong. He always remembered what he did and the main source of his anger was always channeled where he led it to. If it was a berserk, he controlled it fully. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. She will kick him in the balls once he would let go. He was sure of it. It never went so easy with her. He doubted he'd go to the bar today. He leaned over and kissed the spot between her ear and jaw.

'I'm sorry.' He muttered finally. 'I have no excuse.' He had and there was a bunch of them, but they really were pathetic and even if they weren't, the broke the rule twenty five so he couldn't say them out loud. Slowly, he let go of the girl's arms and sat up. Or maybe a tooth. Probably a tooth will be knocked out.

Okay, and now they were out of Wonderland and straight into the Grinch's Paraphernalia Wagon. Daichi didn't apologize to women, much less women who were Kushina- especially when said woman was her. And he'd never kiss her.

So of course she hit him when he let go of her. She smacked him on the side of the head as hard as she could (though it was an open-handed hit so it was more of a slap than anything when she normally would have just kneed him in the balls) and she just stayed where she was, wiping her face now that she could and for the first time noticing that her hair now looked like some experimental my little pony gone wrong, stained with ink, it's natural pancake-syrup color and bits of class and splinters stuck on it.

'...The fuck, Dai?' she said, her voice back to normal timbre.

He didn't answer, just sat and felt the slap that rang through his skull like a bell from church's tower. A well deserved slap. Then he suddenly stood up. 'Bed is yours.' Was murmured as he went out to the small room containing toilet and sink. One glance in the mirror assured him his nose wasn't broken, but it didn't make it look any more pretty. It was stuffed with dried up blood. Smelled like dead human. 'No lady would like such a gentleman.' He murmured and smiled to himself. Man in the mirror had only made a pitiful grimace. In silence, he washed up his face and went out of the bathroom.

And now she might as well go chase unicorns, because reality has just dipped itself into the most laced LSD of history. 'Fuck the bed, Daichi.' She said, staring at the mess of blood her shirt had become and brushing it off as if it could be any good solution by this point. She quickly got up, massaging one of her wrist and following the redhead to the bathroom. 'What the hell was that? Are you high?' there was anger in her voice of course but she also couldn't really leave the concern out of it, nor did she want to.

The man stared at her blankly. 'I saw the bitch today.' He said in a casual tone. And she had beautiful eyes. And she had brushed me off. And she acts as oblivious as little kid. Nonstop. 'I broke the vending machine.' Like if that explained anything. And then: 'I need to fuck something. Do you want to volunteer or can I go find my private time without you?'

Kushina's expression couldn't have looked more confused if she'd tried. 'Dai, I think you fucked yourself well enough to last you a lifetime.'

The redhead frowned in disgust. 'You know very well why.'

'No. I . Don't.' She wiped again at her top, even though she knew it wouldn't do any good to the yellow fabric. 'You *can't* be acting like this over a girl you haven't seen in so many years and which you haven't exchanged more than maybe one hundred words with.'

Daichi smiled. It was caricature of a smile more than anything. Looked more like a snarl. 'Of course not. Why do you act like if we had never knew each other?'

Kushina stared at the shorter man. Stared some more. Finally, after rubbing the back of her head as if it itched (which it did, after all the splinters and ink she'd gotten it smeared on) she raised her arms lightly. This really was an impossible day. 'Uh… hug?'

In silence, Daichi rose one of his bloodied hands and showed her the finger. Obviously not.

There, sweet, beautiful normality. Grabbing him by the wrist, she yanked him close. or rather, pulled herself closer to hug him, because as usual, trying to move the bastard was like trying to move a particularly grumpy brick wall.

The grumpy look on the male's face didn't leave, but his raised hand had bended and leaned on the arms of the girl with ease of a robot who was programmed to do one thing after another. Show a finger. Hug a body, whether it's there or not. She felt warm against his skin. Smelled of ink, cheap perfumes she always used and blood he still felt in his nose, but was so vividly warm. He felt his tightened knots of anger starting to undo in himself, one by one. And when they started falling off, the steely stubbornness washed away leaving empty nothingness. When was the last time when somebody had hugged him? When was the last time he broke down like that? Honestly, it could as well be yesterday and it would still seem ages away. What a mess.

The long-haired redhead giggled lightly through her teeth, squeezing the man's body back and using one hand to rub his back as if he were some little child in need of a cuddle. 'There, there you short, bipolar mess of an ass' she cooed gently 'Better now?'

He made a piteous face. Gods, he could swear… he could fall in love just right now. Of course, that wasn't possible, because it was number one witch from the Whirlpool who was more obnoxious than anyone else, but he couldn't deny… that was what he missed from the blonde. She hadn't got a single good word for him since… Was there even a time where she had good words for him? He remembered telling her countless times he had feelings for her and yet, there was no response. Slowly, he leaned forward, in a moment squeezing the girl as tight as he could without hurting her, and then he dragged her away from him. By a grip on the strawberry hair. Well, strawberry-blueberry now.

'I think you had moved a little too far this time, witch.' He said, glaring at her 'Where is your lesbian side, shouldn't it be disgusted? Because what you had hugged right now is a real man and there's no mistaking about it.'

'Yes, yes, you are burly, maleish, manly man of a man, Dai,' the woman said carelessly, leaning to get his hand and untangle his hand from her hair and making a face at what her fingers encountered. 'Now if you are done being the avatar of the time of the month, why don't you go clean your room while I take a shower and then we can go get you good and drunk?'

The male looked at the floor and rolled eyes at it, like if it made a mess just to annoy him like that. 'If I'm drunk now, tomorrow's work will be hell.' He said in a parental tone 'Hurry up, I want to get sloshed properly.'

His answer was a blood-stained yellow top thrown at the face, closely followed by marginally cleaner black pants.

Of course. What else a woman of Kushina's kind could do if not throwing her clothes at him. With a disgust he threw them away at the floor and started clearing the glass pieces and books. It was much more troublesome than he thought it would be. Next time he'd have to remember to throw his nuance at the door or window. By the moment Kushina went out of the bathroom he had ended cleaning the little shards. 'Done, after five millions of hours?' he asked.

His answer was a wet towel to the face.


	18. Chapter 18

It hadn't been a good night. It had, as nights tend to do, followed an evening (that had turned out to be less than pleasant) in which she'd learn that Daichi was probably having some mental problems. Or that's what she'd managed to gather from what Tsunade had told her. That's when the night had turned bad, because as they discussed the matter of how the redhead couldn't concentrate, Tsunade had noticed she was still limping. And that's when the unpleasant evening had turned into a bad night.

The woman had kindly asked to have a look, and Minato, who had never really taken his sensei's warnings about not trusting the large-breasted woman at her kindest, had foolishly accepted. And then Tsunade had started to check on her legs, and all hell had come loose. Of course, the skilled woman had picked up the damage to her limbs she'd caused by overexercising and somehow felt that berating her on things she'd done in the past three years would make any difference on the current state of her legs.

Minato, being a person that considered herself in full use of all her faculties tried to discuss with her she wasn't doing anything any other nin in her rank wasn't capable of doing, and that's when she really should have shut up because that's when Tsunade attached herself to a topic that the woman had obviously been considering for a while because she started to talk about things regarding 'growth issues' and 'hormonal deficit' but it pretty much seemed to come down to the fact she thought Minato to be underdeveloped for her age.

Minato, who was perfectly content with her figure and physical abilities as they were, tried to explain to Tsunade that as far as her weight went, she wouldn't be able to be as fast as she was if she were to weight any more, which somehow ended up concerning the topic of how much did she really weight. And- because Minato had been trained to answer her superiors truthfully and no matter how annoying the topic could be, she had told the older woman the truth.

So she sat down like a good shinobi and listened to her superior talk about anorexia and weight and mass and a lot of things that she just nodded to in the appropriate places in hopes she could get out of the office sooner if she behaved. And then, when Tsunade was finally, finally done and ushering her out to sweet freedom she had accidentally knocked the training weights she had removed from her leg and knocked them on the floor. Where it noisily shattered a tile.

And that was what made the nice temper of the sennin break lose. The first thing that happened after was a short, complicated phone to the white-haired ninja in which a lot was explained in words that were too vulgar to repeat. That's how Jiraiya was put in charge of the blonde.

The fact she had to stay during it without permission to either interrupt or leave could hardly be called pleasant, especially because no matter how many times she tried to explain to Tsunade her teacher had left on his own several months back and they hadn't even spoken to each other in that long hadn't made a difference to the sennin. And so, she'd only been able to made her way out of the room some good three hours later, with her new training weights confiscated, and with an order for some sort of special set of sprain-preventing type of binding for her ankles and knees that just by the name of it didn't sound cheap and a note for her captain because apparently Tsunade thought that treating her like a genin would make her stick to this so called diet.

If anything, the only thing she could be glad about was that at least Tsunade had blamed it on Jiraiya. It annoyed her to know that the older woman had known where the man was when she didn't. It also made her wonder if maybe Hatake-taicho did know where sensei was also and she was the only idiot in Leaf who didn't. That had been her night. It hadn't been pleasant.

It had been even less pleasant to find out by morning that her mission had been cancelled because Tsunade hadn't trusted her to deliver that note – smart move considering she had burned it the moment she found a lit lamp on her way - and Sakumo already heard of the fact she was having a change of diet and until she held to it she was forbidden from taking any missions above C ranked ones.

So she was on the fields training with her kunai and thinking what an unpleasant evening-night-day combination she was having when a few boys from her village approached.

'Namikaze-san!'

'Yes?' The boys stopped in front of her, saluting when they came to a stop, making an odd face when they stopped in front of her.

The oldest one, Miriya Kohaku was actually looking down at the skinny girl in front of him, wondering how came he was at least a full head shorter than him when he was one year younger before remembering that midget or not, she was his superior and he did have a message to deliver.

'Sorry to bother you, ma'am, but we were on the village just a moment ago-'

The academy had been built on a destroyed village that was a closed are to civilians. But of course, ninjas didn't have time to do the world of civilians and at that moment, the people with the most money were ninja, so It hadn't been a stretch of anyone's imagination that not two miles away from the grounds a small settlement had started, growing progressively with each passing year.

'What about the village?'

'I-It's Sabaku and Uzumaki, ma'am,' Minato stared at the boy in front of her, then up at the sun (yes, it still looked like if it was ten-something in the morning, which meant that they should be slaving at the hospital like good little ninjas), then smiled. It was a really nice, sweet smile. For some reason it made Kohaku feel like wanting to run away.

'What about Uzumaki and Sabaku?' Just what she needed to start a day.

Today was a beautiful day. A glorious day. A day that gloriously, beautifully started when she fell off a barstool and into something that wasn't quite as hard as the floor, but not by much. Upon closer inspection she found said something to be clad in fishnet and dark garb, with a head of messed up brick-colored locks, which probably meant it was Daichi.

Said theory was sustained when said thing kicked her when she tried to curl on top of him, so she kicked him back into submission – or he kicked her, it was kind of hard to tell because in the end she wasn't quite on top of him nor was he lying completely on the floor and she was pretty sure her head was pillowed on something she could have sworn was a lamp, which made absolutely no sense. But at any rate, amazing morning. So amazing she closed her eyes and fell right back asleep the moment Daichi was done with elbowing her.

Daichi had only vaguely murmured something. He himself had no idea where he was and frankly he cared for it very little. His world was still in another dimension and another reality.

It would have been cute if he hadn't been drooling on top of her remaining good top. Which he was cuddling, for some reason. She couldn't remember when she'd taken it off or figure out whose shirt she was wearing, but she'd care for it later. Later came and carefully poked her in the head. Her hangover, who obviously hadn't received any news that it was supposed to be a majestic day, decided to wake up this time. 'Whu.'

The first thing she saw was something that shone very brightly in the stray ray of sunlight that for some reason was coming from the roof. Shiny like spider's web on a really bright morning, only it was more of a golden color than silver. It was so very, very pretty and she had to reach for a hand and pat it. Soft.

'Uzumaki?' And now she looked lower, and there were this big, biggish eye things with long dark lashes that made the eyelike bluethings that shone like the spider's web silkweb stuff shine darkly like really deep pools sort of did when it was at that level of deepness you could drowned at-

But she could take it. Kushina Uzumaki was the number one swimmer at Water country. She could take those pools. Head on.

'Uzumaki.'

The headbluepools of spider said, with a mouth that was under those and wasn't really a spider or pools, but actually looked like someone she knew- 'What are you doing?' And then, through the haze of the twenty drinks she'd had and the fumes of spilt alcohol she'd been partially at blame for spilling she realized the pretty inhuman thing was that midget thing from leaf that had been sent to torture them for all their infamies. And somehow she had both hands and nose buried on the nice smelling hair and stroking the scalp like one would a kitten.

'I'm…not.'

'…let go.'

She did, and that's when she fell on the stray ray of sunlight and her hangover snapped off paralysis, and she tripped on something that felt like a broken bottle and fell heavily on the redhead.

'Ts'no what it looks like.' she slurred in a panic 'We're 'ctully having sex.' Blondie raised an eyebrow. Daichi elbowed her in her right breast. It hurt.'Ts tantric.'

Daichi in response had only slapped her on the back in a manner that surely was not nice. When he woke up he could swear that something in his mouth had died and made him feel miserable and he also couldn't recognize his surroundings. But when the red-haired someone mentioned something about sex, he just have to work his brain through the pain and remind himself where the north was. Not that he knew. But he surely recognized where was up and down. Up was higher.

He opened his eyes just to see the blonde girl standing just right in front of him. Great. He came to get sloshed to forget about her and everything she did and the first thing after that he saw was her and the incoming punishment for that he did the forgetting. He didn't deny the gibberish. Even little kid would know that Kushina was not speaking the truth here.

Minato stared. She stared some more. After another moment, she smiled.

'I see.' And it was a good thing she did, because for the pair in front of her seeing became all of the sudden very, very difficult.

The next time she saw something it was all wrong. It was sunlight, sure, and familiar sunlight at that... it just seemed wrong because it was all wiggly and shimmery. It was at this point her body processed she wasn't on land anymore, but in another place she knew very well. Water. Okay, water was good. She was good with water.

She looked up, sun was pretty and shiny and perfect, looked down… and didn't really see much besides the occasional reflection of the sun in some rock and some moss-encrusted larger rocks here and there. Water was sweet and light, so it wasn't sea or underground-fed spring, and it was cold, so it wasn't a spring either. Water was still, so it wasn't a river… some sort of lake? She was still trying to figure out where she could be and making up her mind about if she was dreaming or not, when she caught something that was moving really wildly a few feet away from her. It left a pretty stream of shiny bubbles.

That's when she remembered something that rang usually through the lines of Water-country ninja in low whisper and quite louder chuckling. Everyone knew that all mammals were worn with the natural ability to swim. Unless said mammal was unfortunate enough to be a Sunanin.

See, swimming was a very useful and one would say basic knowledge every human should have. So of course one would think sensei over in Wind country would try and teach their students to swim. And they did learn. At least they were very convinced that they did know how to do so. And sure, teaching them the theories and the movements – no doubt being very deep and poetical about it - was part of being a Sunanin. The problem was when you threw them to a real body of water that went deeper than their waist.

They panicked. Their poor little minds couldn't grasp the idea of large masses of water because they'd never seen it in their lives and the idea of being thrown in it was surely nightmare fuel for most of them. But of course, they didn't really need to learn to swim right? They could always use their chakra to walk on top of the water, right? No, they shouldn't. Because they were thrown into it, they panicked like her jackass of a teammate was doing.

Thoughts running through her head (That bitch!, idiot, stop wasting air, you are underwater and I was just regurgitated by a giant frog seemed to be the most prominent ones) she twirled around and swam deeper, reaching for the older man and giving it a good shake to keep him from flailing the way he was.

Minnie had a frog to eat them and spit them in it. It threw them at a pretty deep lake. Kushina wasn't afraid of water so she stayed where she was without caring much about it, but Daichi just went from 'me sleepy and cranky' 'water everywhere' and

'don't know where up is' to something that could be only written in question marks and exclamations.

The redhead immediately caught on her and started dragging her down with him. Sure, he could swim. What kind of kazekage couldn't swim? Kazekages were supposed to do everything. Even make it snow in the middle of the day. He heard that the second could do that. But he was not a kazekage yet – only a trainee in the making, so he was allowed to panic when nobody saw. Or when the sadistic bitch of a sensei threw him into the lake full if water moments after waking up with a pummeling hangover on the floor of some unknown place.

The water tasted hideous and he was wet and he couldn't see and oh dear gods, were those the famous sharks everyone in the Mizu laughed about?

'GUAAARGHHH!' he yelled as he rose up the surface, and threw his hands to actually stand up on the water, but he didn't put enough chakra in his elbows so he tripped and fell down in the water again. That bitch. If he would die it was all her fault.

Of course Daichi didn't do anything, so she tugged viciously on his hair to stop the flailing (slapping underwater wouldn't take her too far) and then pulled up at him. The idiot tried to stand in the water, of course, and she let him waste chakra at that as she turned around to glare at the blonde.

'Are you out of your mind?' Upon seeing the blonde she resumed that yes… Blondie was quite, quite out of her mind.

There was a toad next to the blonde. Not a frog, even if Kushina did tend to get the two confused. No, this was a toad. Unless you wanted to get technical and call it 'nightmare fuel'. It was some indefinite color between black and green, with the off almost-purple splash of color here and there, odd protuberances and warts and other icky things she didn't want to think about deforming it's skin. It's gold and black eyes bugged out of its oddly passive face like surrealistic eggs painted like Easter eggs while high on something. And on the mouth, there was the oddest metal contraption she'd ever seen. If she didn't know any better, she'd say those were… teeth.

But… toads didn't have teeth. Daichi was the one flailing the most, so of course the creature's eyes were attracted to him first. Its mouth opened a bit. A thick string of saliva started dripping over the metal.

'You want me to eat those two this time, kiddo?' it croaked heavily. Minato was staring at Daichi as well, those pretty blue eyes of her narrowed in a scowl. Blood dropped from her thumb on the grass and in fascination Kushina saw how she raised it to her lips and licked it absently, just like any little girl would do.

She didn't see what Minato answered. She didn't stop to. Ninja instincts kicking in, Kushina hurriedly ripped off the much too large male shirt she was wearing and started fighting with her shoes and pants. 'Daichi, take off your pants!'

Daichi, who had finally managed to catch some balance above the water as he caught in the surface with both of his hands, had only coughed up a half assed response.

'What? Why?' Why would he want to do that? He was in no position to think about that his clothes got wet now. His lungs were more important.

'It'll slow you down.' the woman started to explain, risking a small look to her teammate and finding him to be already above the water 'Get back in the water, you idiot!'

'What's wrong with you? Why should I get back there if I can walk on it?' hollered the man, but started undoing his shoes as he did. A waste. He liked them. He really did.

'Daichi-' she started, practically seething- was she BLIND? Didn't he see the shitass huge- where the fuck was it? She looked at the shore, but there was nothing there, not even psychotic blonde who liked to toss obviously non-vegetarian amphibians at her teams. Just your beautiful average morning shining in all its hangovery glory. She looked at the shore again, couldn't figure if the ripples were caused by the thing on her teammate and hurriedly stuck her head underwater. Gold and black met her, as well as a flash of metal.

The next thing the man knew was that the earth and the sky has once again changed with places and that his jaw had impossibly, greatly hurt. For a moment, he could really feel - the flying - like a real bird. But then he had splashed into the water head on and his vision was engulfed into the darkness. A very unwaterlike darkness. The amphibian was the size of a little mountain. And it obviously wasn't a vegetarian. He hacked as he swam up to the surface again, this time the fear causing him to work before thinking – so he didn't have time to panic. The only thing he knew was that he had to - He had to fight-

…or else he would wake up without a limb. And what else was that animals of such kind didn't like? 'Dryness.' He thought. Of course, the better answer was fire, but he was sure that if he tried to cook the monster he'd end up burning his own throat and hands to the point he'd die. His jutsus were not as good as it came to the element of fire. And he could also hurt that darned teammate of his. In one jump he had shot out of the water and made the hand seals. A moment later his palms started to shake so much he could swear they didn't belong to him.

'Uzumaki!' he roared, feeling that he couldn't hold the jutsu much longer. It was fresh for him and he was still practicing on a small range before the blonde stepped into his life and didn't have possibility to look it over 'Get out of the water! Now!' And after a second, he pushed his hands down, as far into the water as he could. For a moment, there was nothing. And then, something like a big bell had sounded from the underground – ka-ching! – and the level if water started to drop down drastically. As far as he saw, he made two lined up holes at the bottom of the lake, who knew to what depth.

A complete fail. He wanted to pummel the bottom into dry grounds so the place would change into a swamp. It would be so much harder for a frog that got caught in the quicksand to chase them than in the water. But this also could have its advantages. Only he couldn't think of any, because the amphibian took interest in him and swam up to him, He had no other way than just run. So, using the natural force of a big whirlpool the lake became, he dove under, letting the stream take him away from the frog on a high range. He got away. Okay. But now as the water was sucking him further it was hard to resist the pulling and swim up to the surface again. Gods, where was this whirlpool witch when he really, truly needed her? He could use some hand now.

Like Daichi, the younger woman had been knocked away by the large, slimy creature barreling metallic-jaw first into them. She had a particularly ungraceful splash meeting with the water and once into it she was forced to ignore the massive headache working into and finished stripping off her pants. Without her water-clogged clothes and shoes slowing her down, Kushina felt much lighter on the water, but there was still the problem neither her or Daichi had brought more than the standard self defense weapons and trying to stab a giant toad wearing a giant bear-trap things as braces with tiny metal things wouldn't do much damage to the creature.

And then there was the matter that Daichi was useless in the water. The idiot had gone up again, probably trying to stand up in the water and he might as well work himself a nice shirt saying 'eat me, I'm delicious' if he planned to put himself into such an open position.

'Uzumaki!' What? Now? When she'd found such a nice hiding spot? 'Get out of the water! Now!'

The next thing she knew was that some sort of insane pressure caused a fissure on the bottom of the lake (rather impressive, considering it looked like mostly solid rock) and then the water started to descend… Only it wasn't normal for the ground to 'suck' water like that, as far as she knew, and Kushina knew a lot about water. She didn't have much time to consider all of these things, however, because then her idiot of a teammate got caught in the current and started being sucked down.

For a moment the woman wondered if Daichi hadn't maybe summoned something- but what the hell would a sunanin have that survived and worked so well under water? No, it had to be a fissure, it had to be some sort of something that got hit and was causing the sucking- and she didn't think she'd like to risk finding what it was on her own.

She had already been underwater for over two minutes, and the need for oxygen was starting to reach the yellow levels of you-should-consider-going-up-for-a-breathe, but the lower Daichi went the stronger the suction and the harder would it be to pull him out. And let's face it- he wouldn't be able to hold his breath that long. Maybe he could if he were doing that patchouli-shit-smelling tantric meditation thing in his room, but not in water and not with a giant frog lurking somewhere in said water, waiting for them to become a bit more apparent (or maybe even a bit more drowny) to pounce.

Directing one mournful thought to the fact it was a pity she hadn't thought of braiding her hair, she quickly swam down, forcing chakra to her feet and sticking them to the surviving rocks. She crouched, directing more of the chakra to the area and waiting for the exact moment she could pounce on the redhead and knock him out of the pull of the current. It took only a few seconds, but when the air had started to push your lungs like that every one counted. Finally she jumped, as hard and fast as she could, catching the redhead around the waist and pulling him off the whirlpool, catching on another rock with a charka-infused hand to ground them.

From there it was just a matter of climbing back up until it was safe to just swim away, and she was trying to coax Daichi to let go of her and do it by himself when a large shadow covered them completely. The next thing she knew was that metal face slammed onto the rock they were, dislodging it from where it was and sending it to sink down, pulled by the powerful whirlpools. Kushina reacted by panic, letting go of Daichi – they might or not drown and he might or not be taken away by the current, but there was no way slamming between rock bottom with a rock on top wouldn't squish them - she quickly formed the seals and used a water-like tendril to turn the rock around so it would land with steel haws on the bottom.

She wasn't fast or strong enough to manage the turn she wanted, but at least they weren't horribly mangled against the bottom of the lake. Not that it made much of a difference. As soon as the rock hit it, the thing cracked, the suction becoming almost unbearable. Then the bottom broke, and they fell what was at least two dozen meters into considerably shallower and much colder water. Good thing all those nice, blunt rocks were there, waiting to soften the fall.

Daichi tried his best to swim up, but his lungs were turning blue from the lack of oxygen. The thing you had to remember about was to lessen your depth of breaths when you were open on the dessert – the hot air that was ready to boil an egg without opening it in the shadows could as well burn the insides if one didn't control his breathing at the worst times. The ability he had mastered so perfectly backfired at him – he had never a need to keep his breath for so long. And besides, it was obvious that not only his lungs were turning blue. He could swear that he saw his fingers going purplish. The water was becoming unbearably cold and even stronger against his muscles. The panic flashed in his eyes as he felt hitting the colder stream. Getting a cramp was now only the matter of time.

'She won't let us die here… will she?...' he thought in scattered manner and let the underground swallow him. Now it was even quicker and dark. Dark like in the middle of the worst sand storm ever. He could hardly compare as in his lands the light shone always – either from the sun or stars. He would not die. He would not let the mad bitch let him die here. He had a future to bear and he couldn't just drown in some shallow water. With blindness he pushed at his muscles, swimming up in the darkness as the stream took him, until he hit something hard.

It was indeed a rock and it was blocking the way out everywhere – there wasn't a single opening for an air to fit between. He tried to grab on it – on anything to stop the madness of being tossed around like a doll, but the waters had polished the surface of underground rocks so his hands slipped uselessly and did nothing. 'Fuck.' He though dazedly as he made a couple of seals and felt the strength coming into his palms 'Fuck…' His hands whizzed with unpleasant feeling of electricity burning through them as his lungs pressed painfully at his nose and he let out the remaining bubbles out.

He had no idea of turns. Where was west or east and he didn't care. With one last desperate move he punched upwards, opening the earth somewhere up above, making another source of sucking, this time to the up. Then the stones big as mountains started falling, he let the water drown his lungs and his consciousness finally left him.

Kushina would have liked to help her teammate. Not because she thought that having to drag his heavy, useless ass around in cold water was anything a lovely member of the female species such as herself would do for fun, but unfortunately, she didn't really have that many options. Daichi didn't know how to swim, it was *dark* down here and gallons of water were pouring on them from the draining lake. Ergo, Daichi probably was drowning.

And sure, maybe she really wanted to murder the ass a bit every now and then, because he really was a psychopathic, bipolar, male chauvinistic idiot who wouldn't know what to do with a real woman if she fell on his lap that made her want to just chew on his carotid until the erupting blood reached the ceiling… But he was also a good man. Or at least had periods of good humanity and either way, letting the future Kazekage drown didn't seem like a smart idea. Water country already would prefer to see her dead, have Wind country try to join the party to assassinate her didn't seem to be much of a nice idea.

There was no way out of this. It seemed like some sport of demented arcade game, it was like if the cave was alive and trying to play tetris with her. And she was tiring. She hadn't slept much, she had gone out to consume considerable amounts of alcohol after a killer shift at the hospital and in the middle of the hangover she'd been forced to fight for her life with a carnivorous toad.

She was sore and tiring and every moment that passed meant that Daichi was going from 'mildly passed-by-water' to 'fish food'. When the soft sticky thing grabbed her around the middle and pulled hard, she barely noticed the boulder that fell immediately on place, only reached for the kunai holster she didn't seem to have on her anymore and then turned around to try and claw to death whatever was dragging her to shore. Not jaws. This toad was significantly smaller –around a grown cow's size- and at least as far as she could tell, a soft green color. Mounting it, with a rather dead-looking Daichi thrown across her lap was a soaking wet Konoha nin, offering her a hand.

'Are you insane?'

Kushina would have liked to punch her there and then. To start with, of course; after the punch she would have liked to rip her skin off with her teeth, clean it up and *wear it* while she hollowed her innards to make some sort of fashionable centerpiece – she was sure she wasn't that rusty as far as her ikebana abilities went - and then present it to the Tsuchikage. She was sure it would certainly up the whole feng shui of his office. Really. But now that the adrenaline was wearing off she also felt incredibly compelled to collapse or maybe just burst into tears of pure hatred. in the end she decided for neither.

She took the blonde's hand and let her pull her on top of the frog, feeling icky at the slimy skin touching her bare tights when she mounted it and grabbing the blonde around the waist as the frog started to climb back up what was left of the ceiling and the nearly-depleted surface of the upper lake. Maybe she squished the blonde's ribs at hard as she could, while at it, but considering her current level of stamina, she didn't think the midget noticed it. Bitch.

Minato didn't seem to mind much, just making sure the larger body stayed in place as opposite of falling off their current means of transportation. He hadn't been breathing when she pulled him out of the water, living a terrible second where she'd been sure the idiot had drowned. She had reacted by shaking him like a rag doll, not the most standard of techniques as far as treatment of drowned people went but useful nonetheless, considering the older man had spluttered the water he'd swallowed and started breathing by his own means.

Once outside, Kushina collapsed off the toad and onto the grassy shore of the wide chasm the lake had been reduced to, panting harshly. The younger blonde followed her shortly, stalling long enough to drag the redhead off the toad and spread him on his back.

'Find Jirou-san, please.' she told the toad, the amphibian saluting at her before disappearing again down the hole the pair had made. 'Is he dead?' the mass of dark-cherry hair asked, a blue eye peeking somewhere from beneath it.

'No.' Minato checked again, just to make sure. She tried slapping him lightly, ready to bolt out of reach the moment he woke up. Either by accident or on purpose, the chanced the redhead startled awake in the mood to break bones were pretty high.

The lights turned on slowly. It seemed that the light bulb they had to take care of was really an energy saving one. He barely remembered why was everything in such weird state. Then slowly the light had started taking shape and that shape had slowly turned into a person, a blonde person, a person named… He felt the burning in his nose and throat. He coughed. It was only a few milliseconds when everything came back to him. A half of second later he let out and angry, loud roar and lunged for the blonde's throat. His body took it much less enthusiastically and span his vision around only to make him trip and land on his face. That didn't stop him from voicing his opinion. In a hoarse, pitched out tone.

'You BITCH! YOU FREAKING BITCH! YOU'LL DIE IN YOUR SLEEP HAVING ONE EYE OPENED AND I'LL BE SURE TO RIP THAT EYE OUT! I HAD ALMOST DIED! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!'

Minato jerked quickly to her feet in an attempt to flee for safety, but as the older man fell on the floor and didn't seem very inclined on moving, she cautiously came back close enough to pat his back a bit as he finished heaving water from his lungs. 'You still can't swim.' she said, giving him one last pat, then walking to her discarded jacket, having thrown it away in a hurry after summoning the second toad. She passed it to the older woman still collapsed on the floor, receiving only a glare for her thought.

Shrugging lightly, she peered at the chasm where there had been a pretty deep lake not too long ago, hands reaching for her t-shirt and wringing the excess of water from it, not that it seemed to make much of a difference. There was a small bout of silence. 'You broke the lake.' The blonde informed after it, her tone at least hinting to the fact she didn't seem to know if she should be angry or impressed by this fact.

'We just pictured your face in it,' the older woman hissed, wringing her long hair and quickly putting the track suit on. It wasn't that much shorter on the sleeves, but it only reached the top of her buttocks. It was dry, though, and despite the cheerily shining sun, the water on the underground lake had been cold, and she was down to her underwear. 'It was very motivational.' Minato just stared at her with that blank expression of hers, and the older woman just groaned and turned away, spreading herself on the grass to try and let the sun dry her a bit.

Daichi on the other hand had showed the blonde inappropriate gesture and let out a frustrated growl, only to fall down on earth completely. Who could really swim in such water? Only animals could find a way and he was going to be a ruler of the freaking desert so she could shove it. He was too spent to even thinking about getting up anymore.

Her attention diverted, Minato went back to staring at the deep hole, waiting until her familiars finally climbed out, then hurrying to the largest Toad.

'Oh, poor Jirou-san…' she muttered at the sight of the comically enlarged bump partially covering a bulbous eye. 'He was out cold, miss Minato.' the lighter toad informed her, keeping well away from the larger one. Jirou was well known for eating even members of his own family if inspired to do so. The blonde just nodded and patted the huge amphibian consolingly as she pulled him down to inspect the bump on his head for split skin.'I'm so sorry about this all, Jirou-san,'

'This wouldn't have happened if you'd just let me eat-' the last work melted into a hiss at the gentle prodding of the girl. The remaining eye scrunching in pain 'Eat them.'

'I promise you will be able to eat them if they annoy me enough to make summon you again, Jirou-san.' The little blonde said noncommittally, finally satisfied than her precious familiar hadn't sustained any sort of concerning damage.

The toad turned to stare at the collapsed pair and immediately started salivating again, the corners of his mouth - the only part that wasn't grappled to metal - turning up into a wide smile.

'I'll be seeing them soon, then.' The smaller frog shivered lightly at the tone.

Daichi decided to stay as subtle as he was before – and he had only moved his elbow on the ground to also show the inappropriate gesture toward the salivating frog. Maybe if he saw how the amphibian looked at him he wouldn't – but because he was biting the dust in his own way, he just tossed his finger to it. Sometime in the future the gesture would probably bite him in the arse. But future was far, far away and he lived in present now. Very tiring present. 'Eat your balls.' He rasped and let his hand fall down on earth 'Next time I'm having cuisses de grenouilles.'

Kushina, who not so long ago had had certain experiences with tiny frogs and it's various effects gagged a little at the idea but didn't otherwise comment. The frog said nothing, simply staring at the man lying on the floor. Then opened its jaws and a warded and slightly lacerated grey, slimy tongue shot out, catching the redhead on the middle of the back and yanking.

'No! No, Jirou-san!' the blonde immediately smacked the frog in the sizable bump on his head. The tongue immediately released its pray which was now a good dozen meters closer to the metal jaws that it had been before. 'I told you not to!' The frog glared at the girl, adjusting its large body to tower over her and for a moment looked like if he would try to take a bite out of her. In the end what kept him from it, instead of affection, was the fact that the girl used him –and thus, fed him- a lot more than the stupid pervert the boss had taken in.

'Just joking, kid,' he grunted, eyes lowering to the usual, lazy half mast. Minato didn't seem convinced, but chose not to comment. the other frog was still busy trembling somewhere in the bushes.

'…yeah, right.' Said Daichi from the earth. This time he was laying on his back so he could see the frog quite nicely. For a moment he felt the panic rising in his stomach. But even this didn't stop him from adding a few bitter words. 'I changed my mind. Next time I'm eating your balls.'

The toad opened his mouth. Minato raised her hand. It took a few seconds, but the large toad slowly closed it back with a faint metallic click. Minato didn't look away from it. 'Shut up, Sabaku-sama. Or I'll toss you back down there.' She said, her tone calm. 'And this time, I won't bother fishing you out.'

The only answer was an angered growl, as much polite as friendly it was, but without much meaning added to it. Frustration was efficient. He knew that every line had its ends and every one of them could be crossed. He didn't want to try to fight for life again.

Minato still didn't look in his direction, but waited to see if he'd add any other witty comment. As neither him or the other redhead said anything, she finally relaxed. 'Will you be all right on your own?' Jirou, who had gone right back to staring at the redhead and drooling took a moment to answer. 'Just a scratch, kid.' It wiped his chin with a meaty limb, the edges of its mouth turning up again.

'Worry for yourself.'

'I'm fine on my own.'

'You haven't called in a while.'

'I've been busy.' The thing let out some sort of hiccupy, low grumble that apparently was what passed for its laugh. 'Well… I'll be expecting to know more of your friends soon.' The blonde nodded, thanking the large creature for his work and watching as it dispelled in a puff of smoke, then repeating the action for the green frog, who as it turned out was a female.

When she finally turned around again, Kushina was sitting up and looking at her, the white jacket looking impossibly clean and white with the darkened red of her wet hair to contrast it. 'Your pet had a bear trap in its mouth.' the kunoichi informed. Minato nodded again, then turned to stare at the older man.

'It looked like a snot.' Was Daichi's comment. It was obviously negative on the childish grounds, but his wit had gone away with alcohol. Sure, a good bath in the cold waters did bring back some of it, but that didn't mean his head didn't want to remind him that he actually drank some poisonous stuff yesterday. 'I'd like to have a big handkerchief so I could wipe it away.' He stared blankly at the blonde. He found the source of his headache and his face froze in the painful grimace, unhappy at the sight of the sunlight. Irony, seeing how blonde's hair almost shone in the daylight.

Minato stared back at him, her face devoid of any particular expression as she pondered in silence what to say, or more accurately, how to phrase it. She didn't know this Daichi, and worse yet, she couldn't even try to because he wouldn't let her. he had found her soaking shirt, pulled it away from her body and brunt the water off it again, not that it made much of a difference, besides just wrinkling it more. 'What are you here for?'

The redhead only cringed at this. Stupid question. 'You tell me.' He muttered with a growl 'I didn't bring myself here on the first place!'

'You brought us here!' the long-haired redhead added, pushing wet tendrils of hair off her face. 'You made one of your pets eat us then regurgitate us and then you-'

'That's not what I asked.' The blonde said, her hand finally leaving the dark material of the shirt and laying relaxed at her side. 'Why are you still in the academy?'

Daichi had only moved his head to the side and tsked with disdain. He didn't have to answer that. If she still dared to ask them such question after what she did to practically tie them to the academy grounds, he had all rights to feel even dishonored.

Minato waited for a few seconds, but again, there seemed like no answer would come. 'When Hokage-sama told me there was a mission available here, and of what it consisted of, I didn't believe it.' She said, her voice soft and calm. 'Regardless of anything else… you were never selfish. Or lazy. I thought it was a mistake.' A faint frown finally managed to change her features, nothing more than passing disgust. 'I see now it wasn't.'

Daichi didn't even turn his head around. 'You're not my captain and I don't have to acknowledge anything you say.'

She had the oddest urge to laugh at such a statement, and it was through effort that she managed to keep the faintly bored expression he now bore. 'I am your captain, Sabaku-sama.' She said smoothly. Kushina was still on the side and obviously silent just she could fish every detail of what they were talking about, but she couldn't bring herself to care. As the man himself had put it- she was different from her.

'And unlike other ninja from Suna I don't care your uncle is the Kazekage. So don't expect spoiling or coddling from me. If you don't do what you are told, you will be accordingly punished. And if you don't do anything at all, you better pack and go back to your country because so far you've been nothing but baggage. '

Daichi had slowly moved his head to the side, gazing at the blonde with observant glare. But before she ended her talk, he slowly moved it back so once again he was looking around. After a moment or two, he stood up. 'Are you done?'

'Are you going to leave?'

'I have work in the hospital wing.' Was the blatant answer 'So if you are, yes, I'm going to leave this place.'

Kushina's jaw nearly dropped. It just wasn't like Daichi to let someone- scratch that, a woman- no, scratch that, a midget that looked like if she could still very well be learning how to throw a kunai instead of trying to get them devoured by Nightmare Toads talk down to him like that so nonchalantly. Even weirder, his answer seemed to displease the blonde, because she openly frowned this time. 'Will you take the Jounin exam?'

'You're done.' Was the answer – no, the statement. A moment after it sounded through the air, the man disappeared in a whirl of sand.

Minato stared at the empty spot for a moment, then turned to the still gaping redhead. 'Uzumaki, can you walk?' The question was really off considering she almost lost a limb when her pet tried to gnaw on them a bit, but she nodded nonetheless and tried to stand up. She managed, but she was surprised at how much everything hurt when she did.

Kushina was used to swimming, but doing it so hard against the pulling current had obviously tired her more than she'd initially noted, which combined with the smashing against rocks when she felt left her skin a very attractive shade of mottled blue, not unlike if she'd been rolling on a blueberry patch. She was willing to bet more than one were Daichi's doing. At least now her skin combined with her hair. Minato was staring at her fixedly again and she was about to tell her how rude that was when the younger woman finally looked away.

'Go back to work.' Nodding, the redhead did. Only she went to Daichi's deserted and still quite messy room to have a nice hot shower and catch some needed sleep. Like hell she'd go slave after the blonde's ass after what she'd done to them.

She took a long, entirely sinful for Suna's standards shower, dressed in a clean shirt she stole from Daichi and finally curled up on his bed, perfectly intent on sleeping off until the next morning. Only she didn't manage to sleep one bit, because every little creak and whisper of steps she heard on the corridor made her think it would be the blonde, who for some reason might have followed and was now intent on… well, killing her this time. If you don't do what you are told, you will be accordingly punished

Throwing the covers off herself and leaving them in a mess at the foot of the bed (where Daichi would undoubtedly find them eventually, figure out it was her and try to kill her because he hated wrinkled sheets and people sleeping on his bed) she just teleported to the hospital, where it was much likelier she'd find pants that fit her than in his majesty's drawers.

She was worried about the emotional state of her teammate, but unfortunately didn't seem to have much time to try and figure which state that one might actually be. As they'd skipped a full shift, work had piled up, and Tsunade was only too happy to pile her up with a series of inane worker ant duties followed by even heavier inane and soul sucking duties, which included (but where not limited) to sponge baths, cleaning rooms where arrays had already been used and get rid of the flea infection the academy hounds had managed (because in soviet academy, docs and vets were pretty much in the same rank so they were only too happy to dump their workload on the trainees- or in her case, indebted slaves).


	19. Chapter 19

Another wonderful midday had just dawned, as if especially set just to burn her retinas and upset her hangover, and she was still twenty seven hours from the end of this particular shift. The only positive things she could resume from this was that if the blonde didn't kill her, the Bustmeister and her shifts would.

Daichi on the other hand worked like a Satan and behaved like if he ate seven of them. He took every work that was tossed at him, and because everyone learned quickly that this time he had not only snapped but bit through the flesh and bones, nobody dared to add any more of work to him. After a few more minutes of trying to channel his anger through the mop and the floor he tossed the thing away and sat along with the twins that both looked a bit scared and a bit pale. After an hour of silent, uneasy atmosphere when he slapped wrong herbs together for the third time, he banged his hands upon the table. Karura had jumped, looking at him with big eyes of a doe. Her brother had only tightened his lips in a thin line and kept on staring at his unmoving hands.

'I'm taking a break.' Said Daichi and went out. He didn't drink, he didn't smoke, he didn't eat chips. So after all he had landed with yet another cup of coffee which never tasted good when it came to those humming outdoor refrigerators.

'You really shouldn't act like that.' Muttered a voice behind him. He looked around and frowned. Yashamaru had some guts to follow him in the end. Naïve. Naïve and stupid. 'You're scaring my sister.' He glanced around and noticed a blond strand hidden behind the closest corner. So, they both had guts to follow him here. What a heroic doing.

'Piss off.' He said with ironic smile as he drunk up the content of his smelly cup 'It's not your business.'

'It is my business.' Said Yashamaru, courageously taking a step forward, even if he could clearly see the sweat pearling on his forehead 'It is my business, because Karura is my sister. I don't really care what will happen to you if you can't take on two women and any of my doings mean nothing here, but if you should know that Karu-'

He didn't let him end the words. With an agile jump he moved around his feet and slammed onto the boy with his arm until both of them had landed on the wall. The coffee in his cup hissed as it touched his fingers but he barely noticed the pain.

'And you should know that maybe I don't like women. At all.' He hissed, closing the distance between the to the space that was not only immoral but also an obvious one.

He saw with the corner of his eye as the visible strand of the blond hair had shook on the windless atmosphere of the building. 'You didn't do anything for me? Pity.' The boy looked back at him with pained face. He understood what he was talking about. If anything was important in their generation of ninjas, it was pride. They fought for it, lived for it and died for it. It was because hardly anyone had anything else. Parents deserted children and the sands took over their souls with much more caring hands than those of mothers who stayed. Women also had their pride. If anything, Yashamaru shouldn't be the one to talk about her sister's feelings when she was right behind him. And speaking of that, his loyalty also should be much higher.

He understood that. Which didn't mean it sounded right for everyone else. Daichi smiled with a smile that looked mad in the weak light of the hallway. Maybe it was because he was much more tired than he allowed himself to look like.

'I believed you did everything for me.' He muttered and closed the distance even more. Yashamaru's eyes widened, but he didn't do anything. He had nowhere to get away to. At some point, he heard the steps of a person running away coming from the corner. She couldn't stand it and she broke. She was strong that she had lasted for so long. With a silent sigh he moved back, glad he didn't actually manage to do what it looked like he wanted to do.

The blond still looked horrified though.

'Believe it or not, I am your Kazekage.' He muttered. As no response was given, he slapped the man on the cheek hard enough for him to bite on his tongue. The blood was spilled. He was not sorry. 'Remember that.' Yashamaru didn't look back as he had crawled on his feet only to spun back into running also. Daichi was left alone. He closed his eyes in silence. That was one Satan down. Six more to go. When he was back in his room, he was too tired to even notice wet floor or messed up bed. He collapsed halfway and slept on the carpet till the next day.

In the meantime, Minato went training. She bought the ridiculously expensive bands that Tsunade had told her to get (which actually felt quite good and comfortable and did help ease strains whenever she used force for anything, not that she wanted to admit it) and went to the training grounds and methodically went through one training dummy after the other until it's seedy or wooly guts spread on the floor after several hundred hits. She was just about to make the seams of the sixth one burst when she felt herself being watched. She turned around to find a tall man giving her an amused expression that she didn't want to think was a smile, the tell tale color of his hair making impossible to confuse the man.

'I see you are having a nice day, Namikaze.'

'…Hatake-taichou,' she acknowledged neutrally. It wasn't at all like her to act so coldly towards the man, but she had the distinct impression he'd come to talk to her about what had happened- and she wasn't in the mood for a lecture. The man just smiled and said nothing, which the blond freely took as a gesture to go back to pounding the dummy.

He didn't leave. Minato waited for a few moments, but as the man said nothing and the dummy gave away, she turned around to stare at him. She was very good at ignoring uncomfortable silences, but she didn't really want company right now. She just wanted to tire herself enough not to be so, so… (MAD) so annoyed by the whole happenings of the past days. Especially today. 'Is there something I can help you with, taicho?'

The man just smiled a bit more in that calm way of his that she usually found nice and now, for some reason, couldn't really take. Reading Minato was usually hard, not because the girl was extremely good at hiding her emotions but because most of the time she didn't seem to be very sure of what she was feeling. This expression was one of the few he was familiar with. It was the same face the blond made whenever Jiraiya used her to pick up some women, claiming to be a young, single father. Then ran off, leaving her to handle the tab. 'I was wondering if you would like to train.'

The blonde was taken aback by the offer. It won't often that Konoha's 'white fang' and Anbu captain had free time to devote to training people on his ranks. It smelled just like a trap, but the idea was just too tempting to let it pass.

Sakumo smiled as he watched the younger girl obviously working around the offer like some sort of alien rubric cube she couldn't seem to solve to her likings. She finally seemed to decide that it would be stupid of her to give up such a chance over whatever the other man was planning, so she finally nodded, taking the jacket off her waist and throwing it somewhere on the side as she assumed a position. He waited until she was ready before lunging

Dodge. Dodge, block, attack, parry, dodge. He charged at her, drawing his nihonto back and striking forward in a vertical arc. Minato blocked with just enough strength to throw his aim off and used a Kunai in her other hand to try and stab him in the chest. Sakumo side-stepped the attack, bringing his fist down on top of the girls' wrist. The kunai in that hand fell on the floor.

She was fast, he'd give her that. Faster than their last mission together, already, and that had been just a few months ago. It was a pity she was so small, if one could combine her speed with some actual strength, she would be unstoppable. then again, he thought as he barely avoided a pack of senbon that had been aimed straight for his eyes.

Not if she had really been trying to kill anyone, at least. Strength was unneeded when you were fast enough to sit your enemy's throats before they even knew you were there. She moved to the side as he made another offensive attack. The sharp edge of the kunai hit air as she dodged the strike, a few hairs fluttering to the floor. He dropped to the floor delivering a spinning kick aimed at her ankles. She jumped over her feet, spinning on top of him as she threw a handful of kunai that embedded in a tree trunk immediately after as it replaced his body. Dodge, attack, attack, parry.

Appearing behind the younger girl, he turned around the kunai to hit her on the head with the blunt part. Instead, his jaw was cracked upwards rather sonorously as the blond stood on her hands and delivered both of her feet to his face. She was careful not to kick too hard, but for a moment he wondered if he wouldn't lose a tooth over it. Flipping over back to her feet into a crouching position, Minato brought her weapon up and around in a lightning fast strike. He caught her hand, twisted it around on her back, pulling at the shoulder.

He hadn't so much as started the first letter for 'have you had enough?' before the girl jerked down hard, her feet catching his hand and making him drop the kunai. She hadn't yet finished executing the 360º spin before he retrieved a new one and by the time she turned around with a new one on her hand his was already on her throat. 'Things not going as expected, huh?' he said, smiling kindly at the younger girl.

Minato was openly panting, her face flushed as a bead of sweat fell down her temple. She thought of jumping back, but as soon as he felt her tense to run away he pressed the blade against her throat. 'Enough for a day, Minato.' He said, not unkindly. The girl frowned. He pulled the blade away, wiping at his own brow. He should have considered taking off the heavy jounin vest before starting, it was stifling hot right now. 'Thank you for training with me, taicho.' the girl said semi-politely, wiping at her hands on the fabric of her pants. 'Don't thank me. I did it for a reason.'

The girl turned to stare at him. 'I heard about what happened today.' He'd heard because one of his chuunin had ran away in a panic from the hospital after accidentally stepping on Sabaku no Daichi's way, and because Uzumaki had only been too happy to confirm that their new captain was a sociopath who tried to use them to feed frogs from hell. 'It's not like you to go to such extremes.'

Because Minato was vindictive and she could be cruel when provoked, but she had never gone to extremes as to try to kill any of her teammates. Minato was just staring at him blankly, and he felt the vague but not unusual vague annoyance he felt whenever she did that.

'Answer me, Namikaze.'

'You didn't make any question, taicho.'

'You are right. Let's fix that.' he put the kunai back on his pocket, adjusting the half glove he wore on that hand when he was done. 'Why would you try to murder your team?'

'I wasn't trying to murder them.' The man gave her a look. He knew as well as she did what did Jiraiya use that special toad for. The blonde frowned.

'Minato, talk to me.' The girl said nothing, and he really thought she wouldn't do or say anything like she normally did. When the answer came it was so sudden and after such prolonged silence it actually alarmed him. 'I don't know what to do with him.'

There was no need to say who he was, so he just nodded at the girl to continue. Minato didn't, because as usual she had this faintly confused expression that meant she didn't know how to say what she was thinking, so he just sighed and set himself comfortably against a try to wait for the girl to figure out what she wanted to say. 'He won't listen to me.' She finally said, brows furrowing even more than they already were. 'He won't do what I tell him to, and whenever I try to talk to him he just says weird things or acts so strange I don't know what to do with him-' and then Sakumo thought he would really lose it, because really, Minato saying someone else acted strange?

'Strange how?' The girl pushed her hair back from her face in a very frustrated and rather unladylike gesture. 'I don't know, just weird stuff!' how was she supposed to explain what he talked about when it really made absolutely no sense whatsoever?

'He insults me for no reason and makes weird questions and then gets mad when I tell him I don't know how to answer them-'

'Minato-'

'He says he can't understand me because I'm a woman! I'm just telling him what sort of things he needs to do, they are simple orders, how hard to understand can that be? He's supposed to be above jounin level, 'do this' can't be that hard a command!'

'Well, that-'

'And the day before yesterday I suggested for him to make jounin! He practically had a seizure and broke the last dispenser that still sold Topimaru!' He winced, his taste buds seeming it fold on themselves just thinking about the mentioned drink he'd been unfortunate to try once. Before he could comment on it, the girl cut him off again. 'The last dispenser! In the whole academy! I only have four cans I could rescue. All because he wants to stay here longer because he thinks this is some sport of vacational resort where he can just sit back and enjoy being lazy and stupid-'

'I think-'

'And right after that he makes such a mess at the hospital Tsunade-sensei had to kick him out and then he disappears for the rest of his shift and in the morning I have to go pick him up from a civilian's bar that he and his friend trashed after getting drunk and they are there just lying there like, like-' He didn't try to interrupt this time, just made a 'go on' gesture. 'What was he doing drinking anyway? He can't drink, and he knows it, that's why he doesn't.'

Sakumo thought of telling her that apparently he now did. Not often, but every now and then Uzumaki would drag him to some bar and then they'd deal with a surprisingly pleasant and friendly version of the redhead. Until the hangover he'd invariable get settled in, that is. He thought he saw where the issue with the girl was going, though. As if wanting to confirm it, the girl continued. 'He was never someone who's reject a mission just because he felt like it, or someone that would just… just cheat to get more money, much less someone who's be content to let his status step in front of his worth as shinobi-'

Not the Daichi she'd known at least. And yes, he might have disappointed her terribly, but regardless of how she'd felt then on regards of their friendship, he had still been someone she had admired and someone he could respect as a fellow ninja. He'd really been someone Minato looked up to on regard of the type of ninja she wanted to be herself, and to see him like this it just…

'…And I don't know what to do with him anymore.' She finally finished, her expression something that in her limited display of emotions might be sadness. It hurt to see him like this.

He was a man and he was, or at least had been respected and had everything he could ever want, but that he now would stop deserving such things hurt her. Sakumo could have smiled if the girl hadn't been such a pitiful sight. It was funny how such a sullen, weird kid could look like a kitten badly in need of a cuddle.

'… Talks weird, you say.' more than anything to try to approach the matter in a way the girl would understand. Minato quickly diverted his intentions. 'He called me a fish head.' He blinked slowly. 'He… said you looked like a fish head?'

'No, he said I was one.' For a moment he tried to wrap his mind about the comment, then quickly decided it was a lost cause. It was more than likely some sort of metaphore that Minato hadn't caught because she always took things too literally.

'Look, Minato,' he decided to take another approach. 'You haven't seen him in almost four years. People change, you are not the same person you were then, right?'

'No.' the girl agreed bitterly. 'I'm better.'

'What I mean is that it must be hard for him to accept you as his superior after not seeing you for years, and even worse after what you've done to him.'

'I didn't do anything!' Minato crossed her arms over her chest, starting to feel cold now that the heat from the training was wearing off. 'He did this to himself, it's his fault for acting this way.'

'You told on him on his Kage, Minato,' he said patiently.

'Someone had to.' The girl replied stubbornly. 'If he's going to get so comfortable on Kazekage-sama's protection, I think he is entitled to know exactly what he is vouching for.'

'Yes, yes, you are right.' Not that he thought it made what she'd done all right, but he did understand that what the girl was saying was true, on regards that he'd brought this to himself. 'But it wasn't someone, Minato. It was you.'

'Yes.' And this was another dead in. She was obviously missing the point again, and he couldn't help but wonder how someone so sharp could be so abysmally oblivious to how people worked. Anyone could have told her that the redhead still obviously had feelings for her, and that he had never really solved any of those. 'You were his friend, Minato. I'm not saying it's okay for him to do, but if you are trying to understand why is he acting like this, I think it's because he feels you betrayed him. '

And another thing that the girl would obviously never get was that while she had been very young back then (really, rather uncomfortably young), Sabaku had been already fifteen and pretty much a grown man as far as Suna's standards were. He didn't know how the fact everyone thought Minato to be male back then fell into the equation, but it didn't change the fact that the older man had for all appearances taken their relationship very seriously. Something flashed in the girls face at his words, though, much too fast for him to be able to make out what it was. 'My mission was to get 'team Red' under control' she said in a neutral, controlled tone of voice. 'I took the necessary steps to ensure that.'

He thought such coolness after the girls heated complaining could only mean he'd hit something important, but as he didn't know what it could be he let it rest. 'They are behaving better than with their previous captains, I'll give you that,' he said in a similar tone. 'But that doesn't mean they are under control, and don't fool yourself into thinking they are.'

'Then I'll make them.'

'Like Jiraiya-sama made you resign?' The blonde looked away quickly, somewhere to the far side and back. No, he hadn't been able to force her. He'd just left and hadn't contacted her since. 'Minato, you need to remember you are supposed to be a team. You might be the captain, but no one will acknowledge if they don't feel you are a part of it.'

The girl frowned even more.

'I've told them what to do. I've asked nicely for it.' And she still didn't get it.

'You've told them what to do. And everything you've done so far is punish them for not doing what you tell them to. Why don't you try taking them on a mission?'

'It would be faster if I took mine alone and-'

'Teamwork, Minato.' The girl sighed, glaring at her feet. He noticed she was wearing an elastic sort of bandages today. It sounded like a good idea, given how extreme she was about running. 'Fine, I'll take them on a mission.'

'That's good,' he smiled encouragingly, finally moving away from the tree and walking close enough to ruffle the fluffy mess that was her hair. 'Oh, and Minato?'

'Taicho.' She was obviously till unhappy with his piece of advice, but she still wasn't shying away from touch. 'Don't give up if it doesn't work the first time, just…' He tried to think about how to put this delicately. 'Just try to not to dismiss them too quickly. If you don't understand something just tell them you don't.'

'I told him.' the girl complained, and that made him stop and stare at her. So far she'd only complained about Sabaku's attitude, when his teammate was just as hard to manage as he was, if not more due her unpredictability.

'What about Uzumaki?' Minato looked up, her expression confused. 'What about her?'


	20. Chapter 20

It seemed impossible, and yet today's awakening was even more agonic than the previous day. She blamed the bruises. She felt like of someone had decided to run her through a one of those kitchen things to ground meat with. She probably looked like a Dalmatian, too, but at least chicks dig bruises, huh?

'Kushina-chan…'

'Whuuu…' she moaned pathetically, trying to invoke any sort of pity hot nurse-san from Thunder. It had worked last night, why not again? Not that they'd really gone very far, with Kushina in the state she was after the hellish shift she'd gone through… But one great truth about the universe was that there was nothing like the feeling of soft, female skin when you were sore. Just a little cuddling and nuzzling and oh, boobs. Kushina loved boobs, had she ever mentioned that? Because she did. Boy, did she like boobs. Well, not 'with' boys, but she did like boys and boobs very much. Boobs were just squishier.

She was pondering the beauty of female attributes and their therapeutic properties when she felt something poke her into one of the wider bruises, making her jerk lightly in reaction. 'Hurts.' she whined again, trying to burrow further into the warm blankets. 'Kushina-chan.' came the sweet, soft call of Liho.

'Uzumaki.' came the voice from hell.

Kushina's eyes snapped open. 'I'MATWORKINGI'MWORKING!' she cried in a panic, diving for her clothes at the same time she tried to wrap the blanket around her body, and just managing to trip on her discarded shoes and land nose-first on the floor. '…balls.'

'Are you all right?' Kushina's automatic reaction would have been to try and get some pity out of the female in front of her, and maybe some more boob therapy out of it, but one look at the practically pancake-flatness of the blonde's chest dissuaded her.

'…Yeah.' The shorter girl was for a change clad in a dark blue tracking suit, with black accents on the edges, so apparently not all of her wardrobe consisted of white on white. The dark color really made her eyes stand out from the pale face.

'Where is Sabaku?'

'In his room, I guess.' She tried to secure the blanket around her chest, her mind slowly waking up the less time she spent wrapped on them while lying down. 'No, wait, he hasn't come kill me yet. Maybe Boobzilla killed him and hid the body because of the mess he was doing yesterday.' Minato didn't ask why would the redhead try to kill the taller woman, just shook her head.

'Tsunade-sensei left before he did.' And today it was her free day. 'Nevermind that, I'll look for him myself. I'm sorry I interrupted your rest.'

Leaving a slightly freaked out Kushina behind, Minato turned and started to look around for any clues as to where the redhead might have gone. There wasn't much besides destroyed brooms and buckets and some new broken bones she wasn't sure people really needed. She finally found a fresh lead on the bruising on one of the Sunanins working at the hospital.

'Excuse me.' Twins she was going to say. Not because she didn't know their names. She knew the girl was named Karura, but for the life of her she couldn't remember her brother's name, much less their last name. It seemed terribly rude to admit to that, so she just continued as if nothing 'Have you seen Sabaku-sama?'

Both brother and sister looked at her in a moment with blank stare, the same one a wall could give if walls had faces. It seemed they were just as shut as the pile of bricks also. 'Yes.' Said the boy. 'No.' almost immediately added the girl. They looked at each other in surprise. 'No.' said the boy this time.' 'I don't know.' Added the girl. This time the shared look seemed to be full of confusion, like if something that usually worked didn't work out right. 'I know nothing!' finally squeaked the girl in more than panicked voice. The boy had only squinted his eyes. 'What do you want from us?'

To her credit, the girl didn't look at them as if they were insane. She just thought they were and remained looking at them as if she witnessed such conversations every day. 'I'm sorry to bother you, I just need to talk to Sabaku-sama and I haven't been able to find him so far. I was hoping you'd know where he is.'

'You're his captain and you don't know where he is?' Both pair of eyes looked up at her like if suddenly a second head had popped out of her neck.

'What kind of a captain…' muttered the boy. '…are you.' Added the girl. Somehow, in the voice of female there was much less wondering and a lot more darkness.

Minato stared at them for a moment, seemingly surprised by the question. Then she smiled. Maybe she had agreed to try to be civil, but that didn't extend to people other than her underling, which these two weren't. And for sassy attitude, she had enough with Sabaku, thank you very much. 'I'm a jounin from Konoha.' She answered sweetly. 'Now, for the past three years your fellow shinobi has been doing nothing but sitting on his ass and stealing money, and you never did anything to stop him or even inform Sandaime Kazekage-sama about it… If that the sort of kazekage you want, I wonder what kind of Sunanin are you?'

In the answer, the blonde female had immediately lunged at her. But before she even had a chance to even land a hit, the male stopped her punch in the midair. Not that it would change anything. Her punches were too weak to make anyone at the rank of jounin lay on the floor. 'Yashamaru-' she started, turning back at the boy. But the man had only looked at her blankly and came back to observing Minato like if she was new kind of a bug he had never seen before.

'We're deeply ashamed of Sabaku-sama.' He muttered, but he didn't seem to be concentrated on what he was saying 'We're also deeply ashamed of what he is doing to resent his faults. A kazekage who neglects his stamina in order to fool around with herbs is not a valuable leader.' The lips quirked in something akin to smile, but then his face blanked out and he turned around. 'Yashamaru? Yashamaru-' started the girl, but he had only tugged her with him, not letting her end any of the sentences. She had only glanced back at the blonde, signed to resign.

'Even if I knew where Daichi-sama is I wouldn't tell you!' she shouted suddenly 'You Konoha's women know no shame! I wouldn't tell such a shameless woman who dares to think of herself better as of the future kage!' The others words were unheard as the brother slapped her on the cheek. She resumed walking in silence.

Minato stared after the pair, then made a small shrugging motion. She had nothing personal again the girl, and so she didn't really care about how she decided to vent her frustrations. It annoyed her a bit how she let her brother dictate what to do and that she wasn't strong enough to hold her own, but it was a vague sort of annoyance, like when you wore clothes that were a size too small.

If they didn't like what she was making Daichi do, that was too bad for them. He should have thought about it before indebting himself the way he had. If he didn't like it, he could always make jounin and finish it off much faster, but she had no intention, much less interest on explaining that to the twins. He called out a polite 'thank you' that she was mature enough to admit she'd added just out of spite and then left the hospital. Twins didn't know where Daichi was and no one else there did. She decided to try to ask Yura.

The other ninja seemed to be much less attached, both to the redhead and his own job he did only halfheartedly. He looked up at her from his National Geographic magazine and stood up in a polite stance. His beardless face showed nothing but boredom. 'How can I help you, Namikaze-sama?'

'No need to be so polite, Yura-san,' the blonde said, smiling at the man nonetheless. 'I'm sorry to bother you, I was just wondering if you knew where I could find Sabaku-sama?'

The man looked at her for a moment in silence, like if he was expecting something more to come. But when Minato didn't burst in laughter or added any more valuable information, he had only blinked, not pulling off his stance. He learned the hard way and knew that it was better to be too polite than impolite at accident. 'His room's number is 508. Fifth floor.' He drawled 'Knowing his schedule he should be training with dummy dolls right now, or rather would if he wasn't working at other places now. Probably at eastern wing of the hospital.'

Rather than informing him she just came back from the hospital without having seen the redhead she just nodded. He also wasn't in the training grounds, because she had been there earlier on and there was a pretty large group of chuunin working on some sort of maneuver that apparently required lots of space, because they had taken most of the area. 'Thank you, I'll check in his room.' She turned around and started to walk away, before realizing what she was about to do and walked back to where the taller male was. '…can I still go in?'

Last time she'd been in the building everyone had thought her to be a boy. Daichi didn't seem to give a damn about Uzumaki strolling in and out like some sort of stray cat, but his fellow shinobi didn't seem to be exactly appreciative of it. More than likely, there was some sort of utterly ridiculous and useless rule about no females allowed in the rooms unless they had brought a hall pass or something. And no, she didn't really care, but people did tend to be a bit more pleasant when you were at least trying to accommodate to their idiotic customs. And right now she could use a pleasant person telling her where the hell had Sabaku gone to when she wanted to try and be nice and reason with him.

The man once again looked at her with his bored face, but this time he looked to the side. 'We're in academy and you're the high ranked captain here.' He said with a bitter voice 'The rule of gender does not apply to you.' Though, as any Suna ninja he didn't seem to be very pleased about it.

She'd like to say she was surprised, but then again, she wasn't. Someday she was really, really grateful that it had been Konoha who had found her instead of places like Suna or Kirigakure. 'I won't take long, thank you for your time.' And she didn't.

The room Sabaku was in was different solely because he wasn't sharing it with anyone anymore, but other than that it was the same type of room that went with a person like the older man: neat and kind of sparse at first sight.

There were few decorations, by far the largest one being the map on the upper right wall. It was a new one, considering that as of two years ago the one he had owned had become obsolete with the new borders being set as new territories were turned over, sold or used as payment now the war was over and the counties started worrying properly about lands and finances again, but other than that there was nothing remarkable about it. Save from the kunai marks and some other scrolls with fancy watercolors, the books on the library and a completely ruined rug that looked to have blood and ink stains on it there wasn't anything that could clue her as to where the redhead was.

The incense holder was spotless and waiting for use in the bedside table, the cacti still sat on the sill of the window, one of them about to bloom with funny orange flowers, she thought- she was just letting her eyes roam around the room, not really focusing on anything until she found the little calligraphy paper, still pressed in between two sheets of glass. She reached to run a finger over the wooden edges of the holder, smiling absently as she recognized the object. Nothing more and nothing less than sempai's attempt at showing off what the upper class from Suna liked to teach their kids to write as to show how fancy they were.

'الناس أتباع من غَلبْ' 'People follow the winner.' Not that she knew what it meant, literally, because she couldn't read the admittedly beautiful curves and dots that seemed to be all old sunanin handwriting was about, but she knew because Daichi had told her what it meant when she'd asked, one of the first times she'd been invited to his room.

'Yeah, that's working really well for me.' she muttered to herself, pushing stray bangs out of her face, and for a lack of anything better to do, flopping down on his bed, cupping her chin on her hands and the elbows on her knees.

'I'm just being followed and followed…' She slouched more. It was terrible for her posture, but sensei had run off, likely to chase skirts, Tsunade wasn't exactly here to see her and Daichi didn't care anymore, so who was going to scold her for it? She looked at the bed, frowning and getting back up to absently smooth the wrinkled blankets, the bunched up bulges annoying her as they made her feel uncomfortable. She had his bed already straightened up by the time she realized what she was doing. Not that there was anything bad about making one's bed, it was the fact that she had to make the bed at all that confused her.

Daichi was a freak who liked to have all his things in perfect order and if there was one thing he didn't like those were wrinkles in his bed. He'd gone as far as to physically remove her from the bed to straighten it out more than once because apparently her laying on it had passed some unspoken limit as to just how many wrinkles in the bedding were acceptable before you were allowed to sleep on it.

It was funny considering he didn't seem to care much when he had a mission and needed to sleep on a bedroll or in the open, and she would have thought such little obsessions were a cute thing- had they been on anyone else, that is. It was the fact he hadn't been there for a while, and the bed was still unmade. She stopped what she was doing, slowly lying the now straightened pillow in the right place and taking a few steps back to admire her work, her mind slowing to an almost stop as it turned this new piece of information around and around until it found the right angle to dive at it. So she dove. For the hourglasses.

There was this really nice tradition she didn't know if it was common sunanian madness or something that ran in the redhead's family, but apparently you had to give yourself an hourglass for every birthday you had. This served in the sadly nor rare case that your body was never found, so your family would have something to bury. In such a case, one handful from each. Hourglass would be buried in your casket. In his time in the academy, Daichi should have accumulated six of those, and sure enough, all of them were still there.

Except the seventh. That was the one hourglass she hadn't touched more than a couple times, not because it wasn't a lovely thing- but because while Daichi had let her touch it, he always hovered uncomfortably close and seemed ready to leap at her as if he expected her to drop it. That was *the* hourglass, because that was the first one he'd ever gotten. So, that was the one he'd received at birth from his parents, and because she respected that- and really, just because he looked so anxious and she didn't want to be the cause from it- she had stopped asking to touch it. Which didn't change the matter than the thing *wasn't* there.

Two minutes later, Sakumo found a yellow and blue streak running for him, and though he couldn't really say he was surprised, he wasn't exactly expecting her either. He thought she'd talked her into trying to straighten up her situation with the redheads. So what now?

'Taicho.' she said, skidding to a stop in front of the much taller man. 'Would you let me borrow one of your dogs?'

At the time that happened, the redhead had easily crossed the border between the prairies and rocky desert and was now quietly walking onwards. It was not close to home, but not far nonetheless. Only a desert away. So far he didn't see sandy plains of the homeland desert, but he knew he was on a good trait. The water he drank had slowly ended, but he still had some amounts left and that pleased him. He stopped to look at the sun.

Up and away. So he walked a good amount of ground to get so far. He sat down in the shadow of the grotesque shape of the stone and closed his eyes. So far he felt no regret, only relief that everything he did had ended. It was a blessing after all. After being for so long around the women he didn't want to be with his chakra started to spherize in the wrong way. He took out the hourglass for a moment. The white sand danced in the old form and made the tiny noises. He had it for so long he could even count the dots of sand in it. He cherished it dearly. A minute passed. 'Time to go.' He muttered and hid the object in his bag. 'The way is still long.' So he didn't waste any more of his time and went forward.


	21. Chapter 21

'I'm going to kill him' she thought. Not a very bright, much less productive a thought, but it was better than the other sort of thoughts running through her mind. Stuff like 'He ran off he RAN away It's too hot really, seriously hot can't see sun come down already God What if he's made it to Suna already What if he's there how do I bring him back Bacon this is what bacon feels like being done If he made it to Suna he is dead already Oh God his sensei will murder him.'

If they had been in Konoha, there wouldn't have been any need to hurry the way she did, because it was a distance of three days and she could have easily caught up with him the first night. Yes, she was fast, but she also had good stamina. She could have easily waited for the night, a healthy hour for someone like her to speed up and just raced him.

The problem was that they weren't in Konoha. They were right in the middle of all countries, which put them the indeterminate day and a half not just from Suna, but from Sunagakure itself. The problem was that she was talking about a Sunanin, a man who could easily walk under the scorching midday sun if it pleased him to do so. The problem was that this was Daichi, who could probably make the trip on a single day if he felt motivated enough to try.

That the trail was still warm meant nothing here, because as useful as the dog was, as soon as she realized they were reaching the dry plains she had to detour for the nearest town, which was half an hour away. Like it or not, she would need water. She just wished she had thought of getting something better to wear than her light suit, because it was mostly blue, which didn't help preserve off the heat and was just too hot to leave it zipped on. It also didn't cover her face or neck or palms, and she already knew that her initial hope of coming out of this adventure with just some freckles to tell was a good three or four hours behind her.

It wasn't her fault, damn it. She had to lose those stupid five hours, first getting stupidly heavy bag full of water bottles and then waiting… because hell, she wasn't suicidal. Every hour she lost put the redhead a lot further away from her, but if she'd walked on her own in the middle of the midday sun she would have roasted herself alive. She planned on waiting until at least five in the afternoon, but unless she caught up with him before the chasms zone, finding the redhead would be impossible as it would make the trail much harder to follow. So she ended up changing her mind and left two hours earlier. And now here she was.

With the sun beating on her eyes, a bag with about three liters worth of water left in the backpack and the small but still noticeable weight of a dog strapped to her back. Sure it was a small dog, but it also weighed on her and it didn't make the heat any less bearable. As for the water… well, she had it. That's all she could say, because she couldn't really stop and drink much of it because if she wanted to run she'd get sick. So she stopped only when it was absolutely necessary, drank some, walked as fast as she could until she was sure she wouldn't get sick and then broke into another run.

Kages, she felt sick. She knew pouring some of it on her head was a bad idea, she just hadn't been able to remember why, but she had also been unable to stop it. And yes, the water was warm but compared with the general temperature of all the big rocks and tiny granulated rock accumulating heat and just emitting it in all directions she stepped on, it had felt wonderful for the first five minutes.

Then it had dried off, and now she really didn't feel very good at all. The nausea was there, but she also sometimes got nauseous when she ran too hard. She had never gotten such a headache before, however. When she had headaches- which weren't really common, she usually felt it on her temples and behind the eyes. This one felt like persistent drill slowly working its way right through the middle of that spot between the bridge of her nose and her forehead.

So she made sure not to think about it much. If she thought about it she was likely to collapse or faint or just fall down and start crying over how miserable she felt at this very moment. Minato really didn't like such extreme temperatures. Konoha had a pretty varied temperature, and sure, they got hot summers, but it was humid climate. This air seemed to seep the wetness off her frigging eyes. By the time she found him she was feeling really quite miserable. With herself, with him, with the world, but especially with the stupid sun which was just now that her torture was over starting to lower.

Maybe it wasn't mature of her, but she couldn't help it. As soon as she caught sight of the tiny moving dot at the distance she quickly took off the backpack, making the dog jump off its perch and make a low, questioning whine she didn't think to answer and she pushed on. She didn't know what fueled it, the spite, the anger, maybe even the relief she felt at seeing the taller man, but she ran faster than she ever had in her life. And when she was right behind him, instead of stopping she turned around to gain momentum and slammed the backpack on the upper part of his back.

The redhead had let out a loud shout and fell forward right on his face. But before he had even hit the ground, his limbs disassembled into heaps of tiny dust that had covered every part of the stones everywhere. Pretty soon, the rest of the body followed, leaving her with dissolved sand clone on the ground and no original Daichi available.

Minato didn't move. Even if the thing hadn't dispelled she'd fallen either way, and now she was in a rather uncomfortable position where she had her own am pinned under her body and feeling too out of it to realize about it.

'I'm going to kill him' she thought ' I really, really-'

Slowly she moved so she was lying on her stomach, hating the way the accumulated heat of the sand felt on her burnt face but not being able to think of anything else to do to cover it from the sun.

She hated him. For what he'd become and what he was doing to himself she hated him. She should have never left Konoha. She should have never thought of coming back here, and more than anything, she should have never thought of seeing the man again. Fuck Suna and its politics and its stupid future Kazekage. Fuck the academy, she had better things to do with her time than babysitting some idiot who didn't want to see how wrong he was or even attempt at straightening up. She was leaving. She had never failed a mission before, so damn it, she was entitled to back up on this one.

It would ruin her record, it would ruin the way other viewed her and she'd have to swallow the inevitable 'I told you so' from just about everyone in the world, but she didn't care. She didn't deserve being here and going through this for some ungrateful bastard who was just exactly the same as... as…

She made a disgusted sound as she felt the dog starting to lick her ear. She liked dogs, really, but this was just icky. She pushed at her face a little to her get to stop. The dog just whined and bumped on her hand. 'I'm alive, I'm alive.' she muttered, licking her lips. It felt like sandpaper trailing over chipped stuff. 'Get me the water, will you?'

The dog, obviously happy of getting an order, quickly trotted back to retrieve the backpack and drag it back, leaving it next to the blonde and sitting down on its hind legs, painting loudly. When no answer came from the girl, it whined, leaning to sniff at her again and barked again, loudly. 'Yeah, yeah…' She didn't want to, but she sat up, leaning to touch the indeterminate mix of corgi with something, and smiling a bit when it quickly bumped against her hand, tail thumping against the sand.

"Good boy,' she told it, opening a bottle and letting him drink from it. She drank some too, but it didn't really make her feel better. She'd lean against something, but there was nothing to lean against. Just sand and more sand and prickly plant-stick things.

'Fuck Sabaku.' she reached for the dog and started patting it again. If he wanted to go to his town and get lynched for being suicidal, then let him do it. She tried. Really, she tried. She chased him down here, no one could say she didn't. She felt defeated and miserable and yes, that was enough punishment, wasn't it?

She thought about the way the Sandaime Kazekage had slammed the redhead against the table, not a single hair spilling away from the impeccable hairstyle. Her eyes moved to the right, where she supposed 'front' was, nothing but miles of miles of desert to see. Looking back wasn't any more inspiring.

'I'm going back.' she said again, looking down at the dog, which was now leaning its head across her lap and looking at her with warm amber eyes. She tugged on its ears lightly. 'This is too much for me.'

There was a soft half whine, have snort from the dog, which of course didn't really help one way or another, but she did move to gather her things back. Her legs felt somewhat like noodles when she tried to get back up, her headache was still full blown. And now her chest felt tight.

'I need to find him.' She repeated the words again, this time issuing the order, and the dog immediately started trailing back, trying to find the point where the original might have swapped with the clone.

And it wasn't far away from the spot where useless mass of sand laid now. Just as soon as the cold nose brushed against the right spot, the hand shoot up from the ground and caught the dog on the thin skin of its neck. 'It's your fault that I had to hid in this hot sand for a cover.' He muttered in angered tone as he brushed off the ground of himself. If the dog hadn't yipped at the blonde he wouldn't probably notice the big backpack until it would be too late and he was both grateful and annoyed by that. At least he had his back saved. 'So now she is bringing vulture's food into the worst heat? What a smart woman.'

Which was singlehandedly an insult. He smiled and kept the dog away from his face, still squeezing it around its neck. It was better to be safe than sorry. Then he slowly approached the girl on the ground. 'Good afternoon, bitch.' He muttered through his gritted teeth. He had expected to be followed but not with such a bad taste of an expedition. When he sat in the sand he listened through earth around himself, and it seemed that around the range of forty kilometers' there was not a single back up ninja for her. So she had ran after him in the worst heat only with this meat on a stick with yappy voice only to end up as an over baked potato. He sneered.

'Now aren't you a heroine. Following the little Suna traitor through the worst dessert only to catch up with him in state in which you won't be able to drag him back. What a brilliant plan. I applaud your lack of planning.'

Minato didn't seem to have heard a single word of what he said. She probably actually hadn't. 'Let go of him, Sabaku.' She didn't look very alarmed, but she actually was. She didn't want her captain's dog getting harmed because some stupid, bipolar Sunanin had woken up feeling like deserting. 'That's taicho's dog.'

'So it could bite me in the legs so I wouldn't be able to walk any longer? No, thanks.' Said the redhead. His knowledge about animals was limited to the fact that unless it was your summon, you couldn't leave an eye out of it. And knowing the blonde's cute frog man-eating summons it would be safe to just slaughter the thing all at once. So he kept it at the arm range and let it whine. If it would try to bite him, he would think about how to fry it. He smiled bitterly. 'If you're having a sunstroke I'm not saving you. You should know better than to walk in such heat after me.'

The blonde just glared at him. If she could muster the energy she would have killed him with her bare hand, but as it wasn't the case she stayed where she was.

'And just when did you expect me to 'walk' after you?' Walk. Right. If she'd walked after him, she would have never made it.

Daichi eyed her for a moment, then sighed. He forgot that the blonde didn't get metaphors and irony. It was so easy to forget such things as she looked so normal all the time. It hurt at some point. Because no matter what he felt toward the yellowhaired woman, it seemed that god made awful jokes on people in the end. 'You should have stayed in the academy. I have no reason to come back and I'm too close now to do it. You attempt was futile.'

'I shouldn't have come at all.' The blonde gave the older man an even sourer look, if that was possible. She eyed the dog, obviously uncomfortable, but apparently not in immediate danger, then rubbed hand over her face. At least tried to, as soon as her hand touched her skin, she pulled away with a hiss. 'You are going to get killed.'

The redhead's lips rose a bit in a smile as he let out a little laughter. Yeah. Of course.

'No, I won't.' he said, looking at the desert and the blue sky 'I am an important member of the family. No one would dare to take my life.' His voice shook a little at that, but he stood his ground. Of course he had doubts, of course he considered being decapitated… but if he would give in, he would never be able to go on. Life was about taking risks and he would have no place to go back he'd go crazy. He'd kill Kushina, set academy on fire or… or something. He couldn't bear the disgrace he was put through day after day anymore. He glanced at the ground, then unceremonialy caught the blonde by the brim of her shirt and moved her from the sunny spot to the closest shadow.

There. He was not keen on watching his interlocutors frying alive.

The blonde let out a squeak of alarm, spurred more from her shit pressing against the red skin of her clavicle and neck. She was just starting to think that maybe he meant to kill her and maybe bury her or something like that when he dropped her in a marginally cooler spot. Shadow? There was a shadow and she'd missed it? She hated him. Hated him with all her being.

'...thank you.'

Daichi didn't answer and had only turned around to drag the backpack in. After another few moments he looked at the dog he held in his hand and frowned at him.

'If you're going to do anything to me, I'm going to show you how real dogs in Suna look like.' He muttered and let it out on the ground. There. He could now open the bottle of water with his free hands.

The dog immediately started growling at him, but a sign from the girl caught it's attention and it begrudgingly moved to the shadowy spot, sitting next to the female it's master had told him to follow. Minato was quick to start scratching it's head to try and calm it.

'I meant it.' She said, slumping against the rock that was still too hot to be pleasant, but too tired not to lean on anything. 'Your sensei will kill you this time.'

The redhead looked at her for a moment then took a sip of water. It was murky, warm and vaguely unpleasant in taste. Ah, home, sweet home. 'No, he won't.' he said as he took it down and came closer to offer it to the blonde. 'He spent too much time into training me to kill all the results he's got.'

'Maybe he won't mean to, but he will.' she looked at the water, but it took her several seconds to reach for it. She was thirsty, but felt queasy enough to know she shouldn't drink much of it. She gave some more to the dog instead. 'He'll start beating you and by the time he stops to realize what he's done, you'll be in pieces.'

'If I won't be able to get through it then it means I was not meant to become a good leader anyway.' Said the redhead and bent down to take the bottle away. 'Stop wasting water to some house to the fleas. It's a ninja dog, it can go on without water for a day or two.'

'He's not a suna dog.' the girl said, back to glaring at the older man. Really. Minato wasn't alarmed based on what he'd seen the dark haired man do to Daichi over the news his student was sadly indebted to the academy. It stemmed over years of seeing the man abuse the redhead over the most absurd of excuses. And Daichi took it as if it were the most normal thing in the world. 'And it's not like if running away from your responsibilities will help you be a good leader anyway.'

'It's not like sitting twenty five hours per day healing dead fishes will help me also.' Was shot back with a sneer as he closed the bottle again. He glanced over the sky. There were at least two hours from a bearable temperature to show up. A bit too short if he wanted to get to Suna before dawn. He looked back at the blonde. 'If a ninja dog of yours can't survive without water for one day then it should be minced to food rates.'

The dog growled again against the threat, but Minato just pushed its head onto her lap and kept petting it. It stopped after a moment or two. 'No one asked you to send half of the ninja in the academy to the hospital. And if it bothers you so much, why won't you just make jounin?'

The redhead tossed the bottle from hand to hand and finally tossed it on the shadowed ground to walk away a few steps into the sunlight. He couldn't feel the slightest move of the air, which meant the weather was either preparing for a sandstorm or was bitchy, as usual. He had hardly approached his village from the eastern shores before as it was known to have vicious seasonal weather, but he didn't plan on staying there for too long. 'If you don't remember it right, I have never fought with anyone who didn't want it. They challenged me and they got what they deserved.' He looked around and shot a glance at the dog.

The thing dared to growl at him twice already. If it wouldn't be so close to the blonde's lap he would probably give it a good kick. He couldn't imagine a trained dog to even whine without the allowance of their master.

'I don't remember anything, I wasn't here when it happened.' the girl pointed out, leaning more on the rock and closing her eyes. Maybe to lessen the heat sucking the moisture out of them, maybe to stop the wiggly lines of invisible steam raising from the sand or maybe just not to look at him because Sabaku made her headache sad. Really, he did.

And even if they did start, no one asked the redhead to hurt them so bad one took two weeks to regain consciousness. Or to blind that woman, or break that man's arms in such a way that he had to retire. 'What do you have against jounin?'

The redhead stilled, then frowned. Ouch. Now that actually did hurt and made him drop his mood a few degrees. Was it so unimportant for the blonde to remember that such thing had happened when they first met? Or that they happened… all the time actually? It was not his fault he grew so damn strong they couldn't bear it. And if he had to blame anything for being so violent it could be only Minato – after she had revealed she was a girl he was acting up in protecting her honor. Sure, maybe he shouldn't have blinded that woman from Water country…

But she kept on talking and talking such seductive, meaningless lascivious things his whole face burned, and when she had started throwing meat over the blonde… at one point he just couldn't bear it anymore. Such woman didn't deserve to look at him in any way. And if she didn't like looking at Minato then it was all the better. He shrugged lightly.

'It's a useless rank.' He said to the empty space 'It's a waste of time in my case. I should train to become the number one ninja in my country.'

'You're not reasonable.'

'If I was reasonable I'd cut your throat before you had a chance to ruin my schedule.' He said as he turned to the blonde. Yep, she was too tired to even look at him. So, that was pretty much it. There was not much time left to talk, unless he wanted to be a heartless bastard and just let her fry. 'Come on.' He said as he caught her by her arm and tossed through his back as if she weighted nothing. 'You need to see the infirmary, and we're not far away.' He left the dog. If it couldn't trail after them like a trained ninja animal, it was not good enough to live.

She was about to ask him to forgive her for ruining his obviously charged schedule of doing nothing, picking on weaker ninja and getting drunk with Uzumaki, but apparently that sentence had to many syllables in it for her mouth to want to cooperate just yet. She was mulling about how to word them and if maybe it was useless as it had taken her some good eight seconds or so to be able to produce such a comeback when suddenly she was thrown over a strong back, leaving her to gape over the change of lying surface. And by the leaf, the change of way her blood flew only made her headache worse

'Wait, what are you doing?' her voice was more incredulous than worried, mostly because the idea he was just looking for nice pit of quicksand to push her in started forming a few moments later. Maybe even one of those giant, man-eater anthills he'd told her about a couple times before… She put her hand in the middle of his back and pushed herself up so she'd at least be horizontal, but only managed to hold the position for maybe three seconds, before letting a complaining sound and touching her burning face with her hands. It just made the metaphorical drill piercing her brain shake slightly from side to side. 'I can walk.'

Definitely not run, but she was reasonably sure she could walk. The dog trailed after them after having picked up the backpack. The female didn't sound like if she were in any danger and the male didn't really seem to be hurting her either, so Take felt it safe to follow them obediently, rather than start barking at the aggressive one.

'Bullshit.' Was the only answer. He knew that if he had let go of her she would probably walk a few meters and that would be it. The car is not working anymore, Mr. Bean. Why women always had to be so unreasonable. 'Don't even try convincing me it's otherwise or I'll knock you out and then will kill your dog when it will try to protect you.'

Minato, being the reasonable person she was and knowing that a pissed redhead wasn't worth a good tracking dog, just slumped on the man's shoulder. She hated this. It seemed like whenever she couldn't win an argument, Sensei just bodily removed her by force. And now this idiot was unknowingly doing the exact same thing. 'I'm not going to Suna.'

'You're right.' Said Daichi 'You're not going, I'm carrying you there. Be grateful.'

'I'm not. If you take me there, your sensei will kill you.' She informed the redhead, taking a deep breath, which the man's shoulder in her stomach didn't really help much to take. 'And then I'll have to step in, and I'll get killed too.' And unlike the redhead, she was proud of her career. She didn't want it to end with her skewered by iron sand or worse. It might just be her delicate feminine intuition, but she had the feeling the Sandaime Kazekage already didn't particularly like her.

'I'll probably get killed anyway.'

And then someone would say she just got lost in the desert. Or something like that. She just hoped Daichi would be nice enough to return the poor dog to taicho, but considering he'd be too dead to do that too, he doubted it.

Daichi didn't react to that. At least not with words. He had only tossed the blonde in her position, like he would do with a bag of potatoes if he'd want to make sure his back would feel more comfortable and he kept walking.

She ransacked her brain for something to say to hopefully change his mind. It only served to make a larger mess of her head. This was a very good position for knocking him unconscious, but she didn't know if she had the strength o do that with a single blow to someone like Sabaku, at least not without some weapon to aid her. And even if by miracle she caught him at a weak enough point, she wouldn't be able to carry him back, even at night. It just downed to her she wasn't really sweating anymore, which as far as one's health under the sun went,

No summons either. All the desert-inclined frogs she knew would be too small to carry so much as the dog. 'Are you suicidal?'

The question could have been sarcastic, but Minato actually sounded like if she was taking the question seriously.

'Who knows.' Said back Daichi, brushing the question aside. He really didn't like how his insides felt colder a few degrees now – he was stepping on a moving ground and he didn't really want to think about what would happen once he would slip. 'We will see when we will get there.'

For some reason, that answer was worse than if he'd not answered at all, and sure, they still had hours to get to Suna, but she didn't know how many and if a patrol found them before the redhead came to her sense, she didn't know what would happen. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

'...Please, stop? Please.'

Daichi had turned his head to the side to look at her for a moment. His glance was full of frowning. Then he moved back to looking at front. It seemed that the blonde was getting ahead of herself with this, but what did she really expect him to do? To stop and run through whole way back like this? If she was in better condition maybe he'd agree, his heart started wavering as he saw the dot of a village on the horizon. But now he could only move forward.

From the angle she was it was difficult to see he was looking at her, but he felt the muscles of his neck and his jaw brush against her side. She tried to think about anything she could do to make his resolve change, but all her helpful brain was kind enough to provide was Sakumo telling her to not give up and try to actually talk to her teammates instead of having one sided conversations with them. And she was notoriously bad at conversing.

'…What do you want me to say to make you turn back?' she asked, not knowing what else to do to try to convince him 'I'll say it.'

'I want you to stop talking.' Was the simple answer 'Save your breath.'

The blonde said nothing in response, for a few seconds almost seeming to comply with the order.

And that satisfied Daichi. He blinked and moved forward, not caring about the sun, but walking mostly through every shadow he had met because of the blonde's state. He was too old to be careless with health. The dot on the horizon slowly grew in shapes and stopped being a mulled over illusion.

Of course Minato wasn't giving up so easily. It might be tempered by her seemingly apathetic reactions to most things, but under layers of apathy and carelessness over everything, there was a thick vein of stubbornness- And in this time and age, ninja didn't make her rank without a backup plan. She wasn't strong enough to fight the redhead in this state, much less the desert. Any wound she inflected on him would be too little to stop him before he knocked her unconscious, unless she attacked something vital and risked killing him, in which case the both of them would need to go to Suna to save his life.

She could use a torture seal to momentarily stun him, just a matter of biting her thumb and writing it, really… But the only available spot was his nape, and she didn't know how much time would that give her if she used a low level one, or if it might have unplanned side effects, like permanent blindness or nerve damage, and there was always the possibility he would get her off if she wasn't fast or accurate enough. Really, there was no way out of this. He had asked for it too, being a stubborn jackass. She looked up at the dog, craning her neck a bit to make a gesture.

There was no apparent reaction from the animal nin, the noises the canine naturally made as it dragged the bag easily covering the insignificant puff. She counted to ten.

'Please remember I tried to reason with you.' The girl advised, making another gesture for the dog to release the pack and jump at the redhead's back. Less than a second later, the three of them disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Shit. That was the only word that went though the redhead's mind as he felt the pulling at his stomach that usually meant he was teleporting. Next thing he knew he was not at the desert anymore. They were in a freaking greenery house. He let out air from his lungs in a silent breath and took it in. It was much more damp, hit him in the nostrils like a bad punch. But he took in so much he couldn't take more. And then he started screaming out. 'GHRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHH!'

Apparently, frustration didn't need words. His hands steeled at the legs of the blonde and squeezed them so hard it just had to hurt. He was not letting her go this time.

In response the blonde's eyes bugged out and she let a very similar sort of scream, her abused muscles not taking to the torture kindly. Hers was naturally a much higher pitch than the males, but served just as well to turn the one gaping frog gaping at the couple of nins plus dog into myriad of different sized and colored frogs and toads. She was pretty sure at least one called her by her name before she gave in on trying to voice her pain and instead set to pounding in the redhead's back in the spots she knew he still had bruises from yesterday.

Daichi almost didn't feel it. The fury had blinded him enough from anything – the pain, the world, the see sight – he just wanted to do something bad to her. So bad she'd vomit black blood and it would be the lightest of her pains. In one move he had turned her in front of him and put a suffocating block on her throat as he jumped off the leaf they were standing on. A moment later he threw her at the ground with all his strength, which could as well break half of her bones and kill her instantly. He didn't even think about it. It didn't matter. He screamed through it all the time, but he didn't even hear it. In his ears there was now only pounding of blood. Blood in need of murder.

The dog snarled ferociously for its size, almost right at the redhead's ear, but didn't let go of the male's shirt, even if he wanted to attack him. Take couldn't really see the amazing array of colors, but the variations his eyes didn't pick, his nose did tenfold- They were surrounded by poison. Not just your average, easily cured poison that took a bit of antidote and a good nights' sleep to get rid of, the poison surrounding them was the kind that made you vomit your half corrode innards and choke on your own lungs with the barest of accidental brushes - Not just something he'd wanted to experience firsthand. As such, he was also unable to help the female.

Minato tried to twist around and land right, even when she knew that with this much strength she'd break something regardless of how she landed. The adrenaline the man's reaction had ignited, however, wasn't enough to help her with it, and all of the sudden she didn't know where up ended and down started. She has just enough time to hope not to land on her spine or neck before the from that had summoned her (either the one who had helped her retrieve the redhead from the cave or a remarkably similar one) caught her. 'Minato-san!'

That seemed to be all the spectators needed to start talking, most at the same time.

'Minato?'

'Minato-chan?'

'Princess!' cried a deep voice Kushina would probably recognize. 'It's the princess!'

'Is the princess all right?'

'Jiraiya`s student is here?' Minato would have liked to answer to the unstoppable questions, but no one seemed very keen on listening and Miya's skin was delightfully cool and damp, so he pressed her burning face on it and decided to wait until they quieted down.

'Minato-san? Minato-san?' Miya was a good, obedient ninja toad, but she was sadly prone to overreacting. When the girl didn't give any sign of being conscious she immediately started panicking. 'Oh God, she's not waking up!'

'Who harmed our princess?' All of the sudden, it seemed like a thousand beady eyes of numerous colors were set on the Sunanin.

Take sweatdropped profusely, and suddenly release Daichi's shirt, landing on the pond directly beneath him, then quickly paddling for the relative safety of the shore. All of the sudden he'd rather take his own chances with the poisonous critters than be in direct sight for their attacks, like the redhead was.

The redhead also didn't waste time on standing at one point. He might've been angry (angry? Gods damn, he was seething with urge to kill. He. Was. So! Close! To! HOME!) but he wasn't stupid. Somehow it seemed he had put the fork in the nest of the snakes – or in such case, of frogs, which was just as bad judging by how colorful it suddenly appeared to be everywhere – so any second could be his last. Using the moment of surprise, he jumped out of the sigh and hid himself in the high grass as he spun in the run, tossing off everything he had took with himself to the journey – everything that might've slowed him down and wouldn't help him fight, that was. He made a quick set of seals and put the trap behind at the same time. He was successful only in half – the trap was set correctly.

But when he tried to summon his biggest eagle – nothing has happened. He was sure he had made seals correctly. Why couldn't he call in Washimoki? He tried again. But once again, none of the eagles came, neither Washimoki, nor Chairomaru and not even Mayonakame. He bit his lips as he spun into sprint, hearing that frogs behind him had finally moved to charge after him. He didn't have any other large eagles. And if he couldn't get out into the air, he was pretty much screwed. Well, there was one other trick he could try.

It was risky. But it wasn't like if he had any other choice. As quickly as he could, he made a spin on one feet and tossed a few kunais where he saw some sort of movement, hearing as he hit some skin – probably not very hard knowing how hardskinned those beasts could be and took out his fans. They were black, they were ultra cool and they were only 95% working. He wanted to repair the holes that were made during the last training he had with the Third, but as the blonde made him work nonstop the needless slipped through his fingers like if they were made of water. His concentration just didn't work for it. And he regretted it. Very harshly. But if at least one god up above could love him, maybe he could get through it.

'Ninja art, fighting style!' He shouted as he opened the both fans and dropped off every other equipment that weighted him down 'Secret wind and earth style, Dust Devils of Suna!'

Gods, he hated the stupid name. But the Third said that's how it was and he had been no one to argue. Then he had spun in quick movements that weighted down on his already tired muscles, calling the wind upon the bright windless day at this sunny place and quickly covering everything in dust. It worked miracles – after maybe fifteenth spin the small dusty cyclones started rising from the ground and that was more than enough for him. Especially as a few moves after one of his fan had broke and it's material tore down almost completely.

'Time's up.' He muttered and grabbed the second fan with both hands, turning it clockwise. After a moment, he vanished both with it using both speed and genjutsu. With wind that was now blowing, he flied pretty much upward. From there he could finally see the grounds. But where the hell was he? He didn't remember seeing such place in his life. Ever.

Great. So, now, he was almost left without weapons, not counting of course, his full antidotes equipment and a few lighter knives and scrolls.

If frogs couldn't jump as high as he was, he was safe. For awhile. Once his height would lower down, this would probably get ugly. 'And it isn't even my fault.' He muttered to himself, angered 'She made herself like that by going out carelessly after me in this bright sun, stupid bitch. She had no right to teleport me just like that…'


	22. Chapter 22

It took maybe ten minutes for Minato to wake up from the semi daze she had fallen on. She hadn't really fainted, she could hear the cacophony of angry voices and then stampeding, but it took very long for her to be able to actually relate those to the redhead's current situation. In fact, she would have been perfectly happy to fall asleep right there and then (the light breeze and the radical difference of temperatures felt amazing against her dried up skin – it was something out of an incredibly pleasant hallucination), but the well meaning frogs that had crawled all over Miya to get a good look at their contracted ninja quickly asserted the girl was feverish and immediately started trying to shove some liquids down her throat.

And that's how she woke up. With a well meaning, thankfully non-poisonous toad trying to choke her on what suspiciously tasted like water with sugar. She spurted the liquid, trying to push it away, and only managing to mostly drop It over her shirt (not that the cool liquid didn't feel wonderful against her burnt skin).

'Guys… I can't breathe!' she complained, all the amphibians but Miya, who was still supporting her taking a couple leaps back. 'Minato-chan, you are alive!'

She nodded, wiping her hair off her face and straightening a bit on her hold. Her headache decided to wake up and remind what a faithful friend it was and she leaned back on the cool skin of the toad with a not very feminine grunt. She looked around. It looked to be a spot out of the sun that was just a few feet from where she remembered landing. She had the feeling it had been a lot more crowded a little while ago…

'…where's Sabaku?'

'Don't worry about him.' An old purple frog told her from its perch on one tree. 'That guy already explained the whole situation.' The blonde nodded, closing again her eyes and giving a thankful smile at whoever put a cold compress on her forehead. She opened them again a moment later.

'…Sabaku explained you guys what happened?'

Wait… wait… for some reason that just didn't sound right at all…

'…Who?' And that wasn't a very encouraging answer at all.

'Wh-who explained.' she asked, straightening again to look at the small group of various sized toads. 'And what did he say?'

Her answer was a friendly bark. Oh, no…

She looked down at the happy, panting dog, its tail wagging quickly to show how content it was that the female was all right after all.

'Don't worry for that redhead, Minato-chan.' the older frog told her, the impossibly wrinkly skin around his eyes creasing further as it smiled. 'He'll get what he deserves once the guys catch up with him.' A short, stout, brown toad sniggered under his breath. 'I say team Blue gets him first.'

'Team blue?'

Those frogs were rarely called because due their small size and rather loud nature, one never could rely on them for undercover missions, and thus they were rarely used until Minato decided they were perfect to protect her valuable scrolls in her absence. Needless to say, they had developed quite an affection for the blonde who constantly summoned them and charged them with such an important duty as the safekeeping of one's territory. They also were known for taking this rather out of hand, and Tsunade was a little too far away to be of any good for them right now.

'Oh, don't worry, I'm sure the gold sisters will get to him first.' The old toad assured her.

'…Gold sisters?'

The only Gold sisters she knew were those insufferable, stuck up quartet of frogs she had never really had much interaction with because they thought themselves too good to help out a little girl such as herself. They were also about the most dangerously poisonous frogs in the whole Mount Myōboku. But that couldn't be, those females wouldn't lift a finger to help any-

'Yeah, that man started attacking back when they charged at him and accidentally destroyed their house.'

Oh gods… That's all right… Sabaku was good with poison. Sure, it was poison from mostly stuff that one found at the desert, but how different could it be…?

…it was only a tiny frog creature! Whose brush with its skin could kill horribly a hundred grown men. 'Oh gods…' she said, this time out loud. 'You said he attacked. Is he still alive?' The toads and frogs shared a look, shrugging lightly. 'Last I heard he had climbed on a fan and the guys were trying to bring him down.'

Okay, this area was mostly populated with the smaller kind of amphibians, those that rarely went over Miya's size.

'We need to stop them. Take!' The dog immediately jumped to a standing position, barking in recognition. 'Guide away, we need to find him before they kill him!'

'I thought we wanted him dead after what he did to you, Mina-chan?' a very young frog asked. 'That's Suna's future Kazekage!' she yelled, straightening up and barely managing to climb on Miya's back. 'And he wasn't trying to kill me, he was helping me!'

'He was trying to kill you from what we saw…' the little frog complained, leaping down his father's back and onto the frogs. 'Yeah, but that was later!' The old toad decided to stay where it was, his articulation not being what they were and not really up to follow the chase. He shook it's head and patted at his beard lightly. For some reason, none of the sages they got ever seemed to be normal.

On the other side of the earth, Daichi was steering the fan carefully. It seemed that the holes that were in it got bigger during his maddening dance, and he really had to make sure he was stepping on the two largest holes so the fan would not loose height too quickly. His calculations were almost right – frogs couldn't fly and couldn't levitate closer. But to his disadvantages, the ground seemed to be pretty tricky and once the wind pushed him closer the higher plains, suddenly a bunch of black-red frogs jumped up to his height. It was so sudden he had almost didn't react – only when he felt something landing behind him, he had took the sharp turn upside down, so every frog landed on the other side of the fan, and once it was again in the right position, amphibian fell on the ground.

With frogs there was also one good thing – those animals didn't have claws, so he didn't have to worry they'd keep themselves on. Though he moved a bit forward trying to not touch the dark spot one of the frogs left behind him. He made a seal, once again trying to summon Chairomaru, but it seemed to be futile. Like if summons couldn't work here for no logical reason.

'Gods!' he yelled, angered, and felt something cold landing on his shoulder. With the corner of his eyes he saw the pink long thing that seemed to be the tongue as something was following it. And for a change, it seemed to be pretty sticky, almost at the claw levels.

For a moment he thought about cutting it off, but seeing how it was build, he tossed the idea out of the window. Instead, he opened one of his antidotes and blew half of the bottle all over the frog, who let out the pained guaff and fell on the ground, paralyzed. At least this one wouldn't try to attack him for awhile. But then his fan lost some height and bunch of little small frogs jumped up, looking like a group of fleas all above them. He had no choice, but to move out.

'Screw you!' he barked and caught the fan with both fans 'Kamaitachi no jutsu!'

He lost the ground from his legs as he used the fan to blow the sharp wind across the frogs, cutting many and blowing the group away. He was now falling rapidly – and even if he had managed to get the fan under his legs again, it would be probably too late. So when he saw another frog jumping at him – and boy, this one was huge - he threw the fan right into its eye. Gamaken roared in pain.

'Not in this lif-ugh!' His back exploded in pain as he landed surprisingly fast on the earth. Something – or rather weapon of something had helped him in shortening his fly. There was no time to even blink. He was surrounded by frogs in every color of the rainbow. He could throw kunais, but that would probably last for a first minute. The time for attack has ended.

'Satetsu kesshu' he breathed out in a pitiful wheeze as he clapped his hands in a pleading gesture. He has always failed at this jutsu. He could never match kekkei genkai. But he had no other choice. Earth would not protect him from the beings that lived in it 'Iron Sand Unleash.' He felt as all iron in his body cumulated and left to his mouth, making him feel dizzy, trembling and with his chest hurting badly. But even as that, he had spun on one leg in a whirl and threw the steel out of his mouth as quickly as he could. It did look nothing like Third's glorious iron sand, it was more of a steely saliva, but it was enough. Steel was steel.

A second later he was all hidden in steely cocoon along with underground, holding the seal. If any frog would dare to use fire, he'd fry for sure. But at least he was safe from the poisonous touch. He wheezed in and out in slow motion. Apparently, from fresh air he was also cut off. It was a bad moment to feel anemic. But there was no helping it. He had to think of the escape plan. But what could he do? He could try to teleport, but as he had no idea where he was, the length he'd choose could be too small and then he'd be a dead meat.

'Gamaken-san!'

'Ah, s'you, girly!' the frog laboriously worked itself into an upright position, looking at the small female. 'Everyone said you were hurt.'

'I'm okay. Are you hurt, Gamaken-san?' There was a bit of blood on the robe he wore, but nothing very alarming, and the toad just shook its head.

'Just gimme a second to catch my breath and I'll show that midget how to treat our fam-'

'I'm sorry, but we can't wait. Please take care!' at the sign the toad Minato was on immediately continued its pace, leaving the large and rather confused batrachian behind. Miya might be a bit on the hypochondriac side, but she certainly was fast. Sure, she would have liked to run herself, but then again, that wasn't an option right now, so she'd settle for what she had. Which at the moment consisted on a mad chase of toads.

Take was only useful for the first several meters, as the redhead had taken flight, but the dog simply ran ahead, following the trail of pissed off frogs and destroyed greenery until he found the spot the redhead had landed. He stopped long enough to let out a loud howl to alert the blonde that he'd found the target and firmly planted himself in front of the porcupine-like mass of iron spikes that now covered the redhead. No, he wasn't happy about being the barrier between the angry animals and the redhead, but orders were orders. He was really rather thankful for the intervention, though.

'Guys, guys, stop already!' the young frog on top of its head cried, barely managing to calm down the irritated mob to listen to it. And just in time, too, the bigger ones were cleaning the area around the mass of iron, and if the barrel of oil they were trailing was any sort of sight, it was with incendiary intentions. 'We got it wrong, he's friends with Mina-chan!'

Of course such an affirmation only caused a larger mess, with most of the presents calling the poor little frog a liar, some others jumping to its defense and a smaller group that simply didn't care and wanted the redhead dead anyway. At least the discussion gave the blonde time to arrive.

'Princess! You are well!' Ao cried happily, almost forgetting he wasn't supposed to touch the girl at all and barely being caught in time by the team's captain before he jumped to hug her. 'Don't be stupid bro, you wanna kill her?'

'I'm so sorry, princess!'

'Our deepest apologies, princess!'

For once Minato had better things to do besides cringing at the affectionate title, so he let Miya handle the explaining as she stumbled off the toad's back and to the mass of iron.

'Sempai…?' She carefully touched one of the spikes, feeling the metal gingerly.

'Princess, please be careful!' Iron…? The redhead didn't have any bloodline limits... had he lied to her about that?

Nothing but a sound of ragged breathing could be barely heard. Daichi noticed the uproar, but he was too concentrated on holding the seal and breathing the slowest he could to listen what it was about. He was not going to fall for any tricks. Talking animals could imitate voices as well as humans. Which meant very well.

At loss of what she could do in such a situation, Minato settled for knocking on the bit of surface without skewers she found.

'Sabaku-sama?'

'That's why I hate frogs.' Was the only answer 'I'm not falling for that. Leave me alone!'

The relief she felt at knowing he was well enough to be snarky almost made her stagger. She wasn't going to be the cause of a Suna/Konoha civil war. Yet.

'I'm Minato.' she said, knocking again, harder 'I'm sorry for that, I promise no one will poison you. Or eat you.'

'You will only give me a group hug! I don't believe you, go away!'

'Can you be any more childish?' Minato took a step back and settled for glaring at the mass of spikes, her arms crossed over her chest, which she quickly let go with a hiss. Her hand were awfully burnt, and she was only too glad she didn't have a mirror around. She had the feeling her face wouldn't be any better.

She opened her mouth to say something when one of the toads that has followed her from the pond tugged at her pants, passing her the backpack that had been left at their arrival spot. A quick search through it gave her what she wanted, and after inspecting it for a moment, she hid it in the safest spot she had available at the time.

'Then I guess I can keep this after all?' she asked once she put her shirt back on. 'I always wanted an hourglass with white sand.'

The iron fell on the ground with a loud splash. In the melted state it looked only like a very murky water with grease. In the other time Daichi would look at it as it fascinated him to see his own body outside of him almost every time (whom didn't?), but now he had only walked in a quick pace to the blonde and slapped her across the face. In the other times the slap probably would be harmful, but now it wouldn't hurt even a child. His strength was completely drained upon the floor. Literally. 'Give it back' he hissed through his teeth as he didn't see it anywhere close her hands. Absurdly red tongue and wounds in the corners of lips clashed with grey skin and plum shades under his eyes 'Give it back, you thief!'

At the same time, he looked around at all group of frogs with darting gaze. He couldn't think of a smart insult toward the whole hoard of amphibians, but he gave out a small hissing sound through his teeth. If those frogs had at least half of the brains his summons had, they'd understand how close it was to their natural enemy – snake. Though he doubted that many of them could recognize desert king snake.

The blonde again settled for ignoring the redhead, her eyes wide. The slap hadn't hurt, which probably was a sign of the state the other was in, but this…

'What did you do to yourself?' she asked, her eyes looking at the oily looking substance, and then at the redhead. She felt pretty crappy herself, but the redhead looked the part. He looked like if he had been inside of the thing maybe two weeks instead of just a few minutes.

'It's not your business! Give it back!' yelled the man at her and grasped her by the brims of her vest. He had little to no strength, but he could use his body mass to at least play for him in such position 'Give me back my hourglass!'

There was a collective rise from the amphibians, who took less than well having their contracted ninja manhandled right in front of them, by far the loudest being the naturally deep baritone of Ao. 'Let me go! Let me go, I'll teach him a lesson or two, treating our princess like that, I'll-'

If it hadn't been for Miya reminding them he was the future Kazekage, they would probably have jumped him immediately. Due their height difference and her own weakened state, the blonde just made a surprised noise and immediately lost foot, collapsing against the larger man.

And that was a movement the redhead didn't see coming. Which meant he didn't give her support at all as he flew back with himself on the ground.

'Urrgh…' he muttered only as his head hit the ground and as he felt the weight upon his chest. In another time he'd probably push her off, but now he just decided to lie down in silence. He closed his eyes in defeat.

'I swear' he muttered feeling as not only his tongue burned but his eyes also 'I swear, if you did something to it, I… I don't know what I'll do.'

The blonde didn't seem to be very keen on moving either. No, Sabaku wasn't the most comfortable of surfaces, actually, she was pretty sure he was harder than the floor, but then again, she was probably digging bones and angles here and then and he wasn't complaining. How had she ever managed to fall asleep on him like this in the past? Really uncomfortable. Also, his shirt was scratchy on the tenderized skin of her face.

'I put it away so you wouldn't accidentally break it.' She didn't know what he thought of her, but he should at least know better. She wasn't that kind of person.

Daichi didn't answer to that, only shook his head in negativity to everything. After all she did to him he couldn't trust any of her actions anymore. So maybe it was safe no, but it was possible she'd sabotage him with it later. That was dirty and that was possible. He hated the uproar around them. 'SHUT THE FUCK UP!' he screamed suddenly, not caring his voice chords liked it or if Minato's ears could take it 'OR I'LL START THE FRENCH CUISINE HERE!' Empty words were empty, but at least he had his own satisfaction when it got silent for a second.

The blonde just whimpered. She had completely forgotten Daichi could scream like that. Her headache, which had been blissfully forgotten for the few past minutes decided to come back home and bond. Apparently, it did it with friends.

'You should know better than threaten toads in their own homes...' she said very, very softly.

'If I'll die or won't be able to do my duties as a ninja, my master will have your head regardless of what he might think of me.' Was murmured in hushed tone 'So I'm sure you will protect me, frog princess.'

Minato didn't know if he was being mindful of her headache or just thought she didn't want the frogs to hear. Either way, she didn't want to do anything to change his mind over the small grace.

'If I hadn't' gotten you out of Suna it would be both our heads either way.' She said closing her eyes and sagging even more. 'So stop annoying the frogs. You are now their guest, so please act like one.'

Daichi had only shrugged. They didn't treat him as a guest to begin with so he didn't see a reason to do so. But he was too tired to protest.

And now the toads were saying something or other about someone taking advantage of someone but she was too worn out to pay attention to care. On second thought, the redhead wasn't half as uncomfortable, and he was delightfully still.

Daichi had only looked around, not minding the fact that nothing was changing. He didn't know where he would go from there and what he would do. Probably he'd make this jounin to just let the blonde leave him alone. Then he'd train. And then he'd take the Kazekage exam. And then he'd become a Kazekage. And then…

'The world is mine as well.' He muttered very, very quietly. And then he closed his eyes and went to quiet deadly sleep with no dreams.

'Sure.' the blonde murmured just as quietly, though by now she was answering to something completely different altogether. 'With pudding.' That was the last the locals heard from the humans from quite a while. The lively creatures were far too busy discussing and fighting among themselves to pay attention to the teenagers, and even if Take came over and bumped Minato a couple times in the arm and side, he didn't get much of answer from the female. And he didn't want to try his luck with the male. Resolutely, the dog laid down by the pair waiting for a response.

'Would you look at that!' one of the larger members of the Blue group, a female scarcely the size of a coffee spoon was saying. 'The way he's touching our princess is completely unacceptable!'

'But he's not really touching her…' the young toad from before pointed out. If anything, Minato was sort of lying on top of the redhead. And his hands were flat on the floor. Silence. Unsurprisingly, it was short lived.

'…It's still unacceptable!'

'Yeah!'

'Absolutely!'

'He's taking advantage!'

'But the both of them are sleeping…' Three, if one took in account the poor exhausted dog. The group ignored him.

'We demand he be removed from the princess immediately!'

'Yeah!'

'Right now!'

Miya looked at the collapsed humans, then at the mob of toads who still didn't seem very convinced there wouldn't be any bloodshed.

'Minato-san, called him a guest.' she reminded the group quickly 'He's the future Kage from Sunagakure.'

'What business do we have with Suna?' someone asked boldly.

'Yeah, the desert sucks!'

'Hey, my mother was from the desert!'

'Yeah, well, she ate your brothers before they even hatched!'

'How dare you, my mother was a saint!'

If there was a problem with smaller frogs it their highly flammable tempers. Picking the smaller toad, she pulled it away from the incoming brawl and pushed him in the opposite direction.

'Kei-kun, please go ahead and warn Shima-sama that Minato san has arrived with a guest.' She asked, leaning down to pick up said girl from the floor. The little frog saluted, really quite pleased with having a mission assigned when he has just been a tadpole not three weeks ago. He quickly jumped on top of the dog, who grunted his lack of approval of the action, but got up nonetheless as Miya carefully gathered both humans up.

Careful or not, neither were reacting much to being moved, and Miya took that as a sign that they would probably need to see a medic. Minato, for sure. The little blonde was impossible. She just seemed to be a natural magnet for any flying sickness that was around.


	23. Chapter 23

Minato woke up some indeterminate time later to the sound of one of Mount Myōboku's sudden and unexpected downpours. It sounded like if the sky would break down upon them, so of course, every frog and toad in the near vicinity was outside to enjoy the water. She was in the elder's house, in the room they were usually assigned when they stayed long enough, and she was dressed in something clean she didn't really recognize right away, but that smelled vaguely of her sensei, which was good enough as far as she was concerned. She felt hot and dizzy and not really good at all. Her body ached softly in a way that made impossible for her to decide if it was from the fever or just the way she'd run all day. Was it yesterday…?

The compress on her forehead fell when she straightened, and she distractedly placed it back in the basin of water that someone had left next to her. A soft whine made her turn eyes to the curled ball of fur at the foot of the futon she was on.

'Take…'

The dog slowly moved closer, pressing it's long muzzle into her hand and giving it a couple licks. She only noticed the bandage in her other hand when she used it to pet the dog, but other than giving it a passing look, she let it be.

'Good boy.' she scratched his head, earning another pleased whine, then slowly turned around. Not surprisingly, the redhead had been laid down a few feet away from her in a different futon, and for all appearances, he hadn't been horribly poisoned or chewed or even regurgitated. She almost felt disappointed. His things were neatly piled in a corner, and for a moment she wondered what had happened with her water, but then she realized the dog nin had probably let go of it when he jumped to the redhead's back. So it was likely still in the desert.

It took her a moment or two to disentangle herself enough from the covers to get out of the futon, her thumb automatically going for her mouth as she let the large shirt slip past her shoulder, exposing a small, intricate tattoo covering most of the skin on her upper bicep. A moment later, she held the deceivingly delicate-looking contraption of glass and sand so white it almost seemed to glow in the dim light of the room.

She tried not to look at it too much. It always seemed to hurt her when she did. Instead she crawled to the redhead's side and placed it next to him, letting the sand pool on one side slide to the empty bottom globe. A moment later she was back in bed, wringing the compress from the water and placing it back on her forehead. It felt wonderful.

'It's a one hour sandglass.' she explained the dog, making a gesture to let him know it was okay to come closer. The dog was quite content to do as told, curling back with its muzzle right on the girl's palm, letting her stroke the short fur on his nose. Take was sorely disappointed when he only got a minutes of such ministrations. It seemed the human was too tired to last a while.

The redhead woke up a few minutes later to the sound of water sploshing. For a second he thought it was a dream, but the light proved him wrong. He wanted to cover his face from it, but he felt too weak to even do that. Only when his nose touched the known shape, he had managed to drag his fingers up. His hourglass. His birthdate from the very beginning. It was untouched. That was good. Very good. He moved it upside down, so the sand would once again flow freely through it. Looked like home. (it looked tasty)

The blonde on the other hand didn't. She reminded him of the things that were from the other side of the world – training, work, hardships. Friendship, distrust, love… Love… Love… He fell asleep again. In his delirious anemia he had got very, very tired. So tired that even pains in his chest didn't disturb him. He needed to eat something. Something full of steel, something… something…

(like chalk)

No, no… it was more like blood, more like something made of (starch)

He swallowed. In his hands he held a big piece of meat, so full of blood that it seemed to be almost black. But instead of eating it he dropped it on the ground and started gnawing at desert's sand like if there was no tomorrow. Gods, it was so tasty. Gods, he wanted to eat the sand. He wanted it. He wanted it. He wanted it. He knew he had to eat the meat but sand was just so

(tasty)

He turned in bed, wetting the pillow with saliva. The hourglass rolled down and landed on the quilt.

The second time she woke up the night was clear. At least what was left of it, because by the time she sat up and looked out the thrown open doors, the horizon was just starting to get the barest hints of clearer blue. All stars seemed to still be in their place though, so she didn't think the sun was in any hurry to appear and not really being a morning person, she felt like taking her time to just curl on the warm bed and not really pleasant smelling, but at least not downright stinky dog.

'Morning.' she said with a quick ruffle of brown fur, receiving a wet, happy lick in response for the attention.

She felt better already, though she had the feeling she'd be avoiding midday workout for some time. Her head was cleared, but now both the back of her hands and especially the bridge of her nose and cheeks felt too hot and sort of stretched, like if the skin on top of it was too fine and not really fit to contain the heat underneath it. Now she was starting to figure why was her left hand bandaged, because that's the one that hurt the worst, and the bandages on it felt a bit moist and had the faint scent of something like aloe.

It would be now close to twenty hours or so with the redhead missing. Sakumo was probably worried about her whereabouts. And now that she thought about it, her backpack and the remaining water might arise some suspicion as well. All she could hope some sandstorm buried it, never to be found. She better write a message or something to let her captain know she had found Sabaku and the both of them were all right so he wouldn't worry. In fact, they should probably make a detour and pass Konoha to see if there was anything they needed her for. She wasn't sure if Sabaku would think it a good idea, but considering he wouldn't be able to get out of here on his own, it's not like if he had much of an option…

She had just started to consider leaving on her own and then just summoning him when she got back to the academy to not bother with the hassle of his company when she turned to give him a distracted look. Something seemed a bit off. Except for the saffron colored hair, he was sort of almost blending in with the futon.

'Sabaku-sama…?'

The redhead just starred at her with blatant look that showed that he was not really interested in showing any interest in both sleeping an being awake. A pulsing headache finally woke him up in the deep of the night and left him laying on the bed without possibility to do anything. He had no idea how much guarded the place was and what would happen if he would try to get out of the room. He wondered if not to wake the girl to help him with getting up and walking around, but when he saw how sickish she looked, he decided to let it go.

They were not in danger and not on a mission. As much hard as he usually was on everyone, he knew it was better to not be too rough with sick people. So instead he lied on bed and listened to his headache that started to get stronger with the time passing by. After some time also he heard the swooshing around, but since nothing had moved with the wind, it was probably only in his ears. He started counting the sand particles to kill the time. They still looked tasty. He wondered for a moment if not to break the hourglass and have a bite, but decided against it.

Besides having a need to lick the ground, he didn't really feel hungry. Strange, considering how he ate the last meal the previous day, but he didn't really think about it. His head hurt.

'What.' he said, neither asking or stating anything. It was a dull sound that passed his lips because he couldn't stand the silence anymore.

The girl stared at him dubiously for another two or three seconds. After the silent debate she pushed the dog slightly away from her and eventually moved out bed, adjusting the knot on the too large shirt she was wearing. Yep, definitely sensei's. Getting up was a bit more tricky than it originally appeared to be, but she managed without too much awkwardness. She still felt a little dizzy, but nothing compared to yesterday and nothing that really would make her stay down. When she covered the few steps start separated them, she sat down next to the redhead's futon, not really at stabbing distance, yet close enough to see him clearly.

'You look terrible.'

Black eyes had moved with her, observing her every step, but the man didn't move otherwise. Maybe he'd protest about a woman sitting on his bed if he had strength, but could he really? It was not his place. Not his bed. Not his culture. He was at mercy here.

'Really? I thought I looked dashing.' He muttered quietly. 'All vampiric and stuff.'

The blonde shook her head, the sarcasm obviously missing her completely.

'You look sick.'

The redhead closed his eyes.

'And that's how I feel. How I should feel.' He swallowed slowly 'Do you have any red meat on storage?'

'I don't know. Maybe the elders do.' She didn't really listen to what she was saying, because when the redhead closed his eyes, it was actually worse- his lids were a purplish color that she might almost have expected from a bruise, and the bags under his eyes were more noticeable. Edging closer, she reached to feel his pulse.

Sabaku's heartbeat was a little rapid, but nothing really worrying. His skin was also more clammy than actually sweaty, but she didn't like how cold it felt. From what she remembered of spending lengthy nights with the older nin wrapped around her, the redhead was always warm to the touch, his skin temperature always being a little higher than hers. It was the same with Jiraiya-sensei, so she theorized males in general had higher body temperature, but weather that was true or not didn't matter. The point was the redhead didn't really feel the right temperature at all.

'What did you do to yourself?'

'I removed important part of my body from myself to get a protection from your friendly green ants.' Muttered the redhead, then slowly removed his hand from her grasp. It felt too close, too caring for his tastes. 'I need to restore it before I'll lose my consciousness. So about this red meat…' He stopped. The swooshing in his head got very close into choir with pulsing in his head and made a concert in duo of both.

Minato jerked her hand back from his grasp, her expression suddenly blank. Removed a part from his body? He was talking about the jutsu, of course, that's the only thing he had done that she could think could have gotten him this sick. Metal. The thing had felt like metal. The only metallic thing Sabaku had was the handles of his fans, but why would that make him sick she had no idea. Something he removed from his body…

The thing that finally clued her on what it might have be wasn't so much the symptoms of anemia, as much as remembering who the redhead's teacher was. And what his most famous jutsu consisted about. The only problem was that Daichi didn't have a bloodline limit to actually produce the magnetism and work the iron, so the only way he could have was to extract it by himself.

…and he had stayed all night like this?

She jumped back, an action her brain didn't really appreciate because it seemed to take an extra second to climb up back to the upper part of her spine, but she ignored that and turned around, quickly running out.

'Shima-sama! Fukusaku-sama!'

The idiot redhead needed a doctor. Right now.

The man frowned. Now there is going to be a chaos around his bed and for some reason it seemed that it will be a very froggy chaos. He had no idea who was Shima or Fukusaku, but it didn't sound like cooks names. He sighed.

'Please, bring a liver…' he murmured pitifully to himself. But he knew that if anything, he needed blood transfusion now.

That's exactly what the blonde was thinking at that moment. That the redhead likely needed a transfusion and the only human available to give him some in kilometers and miles around was her. And hers was a different type. And she somehow doubted the Toads would keep blood bags or something like that for human transfusions.

'Shima-sama! Fukusaku-sama!' Even if they had, who would need it? Both Jiraiya and herself were B type!

'Minato-san?'

The blonde stopped and turned around to face the large, emerald green female, recognizing the yellow markings around her eyes.

'Mayu-san.'

Miya's sister. Thankfully, the non hypochondriac version. 'Mayu-san, please help me, I need to find the elders right away. Sabaku-sama is anemic and he needs…' What did anemic people need? Besides not being idiots and wasting all the iron out of their bodies, that is.

'…I have no idea, but he's sick. He need a medic right away.'

'Of course, miss.' with a polite bow, the frog disappeared. The blonde looked around for a moment, as if she expected the frogs to materialize right away, then quickly moved back to the room to check on the redhead. Didn't look any better, but at least he didn't seem to have died in her absence. She immediately dragged his backpack close and sat right next to him this time, not really thinking about what she was doing, not that she would have cared even if she had.

'Do you have iron supplements?' she asked, immediately starting to look through his packs of medicine and antidotes for anything that looked remotely useful.

The redhead had only blinked.

'No, I don't.' Who would? He'd never thought of using such jutsu, it was too dangerous and not very effective. He had stopped supplying himself with iron once he stopped experimenting with it. 'Stop touching my belongings. Did you bring the meat?'

'I don't know.' The blonde said, ignoring his command and taking out any sort of flask and vial she found, anything that looked even remotely useful.

'It just seemed smart, if you planned to use a stupid suicide jutsu-' giving up, she turned the bag upside down, tossing the clothing articles and scrolls and weapons away and hoarding together the flasks and vial. 'Something useful. Tell me you have something remotely useful among all this stuff.' Something among all that crap to be useful. Never mind Suna medicine usually consisted on putting a band aid over an exposed fracture and maybe sleep on it if you were dying or something. No one would be that stupid.

'What do you mean useful?' muttered the redhead and propped himself on one elbow to point at vials 'The one with green dots is against arsenic, the yellow one is an antidote for scorpions venom and the transparent one which smells like almonds is a poison that could kill the whole army. If that's not useful then I don't know what is. And no, I didn't take the cow's raw thigh with me to have supply of iron in case I wanted to use this jutsu. Please, stop making a mess.' But before he could even think about getting out of the bed the door had opened and the pair of old frogs jumped in.

'I mean useful-for-when-you-decide-to-rip-your-own-blood-out-of-your-veins. I don't think antidote for scorpions is going to be very helpful right now!' The blonde made a movement almost as if she was planning to throw a couple of vials to the redhead's face, but before she could think of that, the purple and green frogs had quickly appeared.

'Oh dear, oh my.' rasped the male frog with obvious beard 'Minato, dear, is this young man in troubles you said? He doesn't look very good… what do you think, Ma?'

'It's obvious he doesn't look good, Pa!' said the female frog rather loudly 'Look how poor he looks like! But it's nothing my kitchen won't fix! Here you go, eat up!' The redhead had only looked at the bowl she brought with herself. It looked like a lot of baked… insects. Lots of it.

'Augh…' he muttered. Not that he wouldn't eat it if he saw some meat there, but so far it was only something antsy. And he didn't really feel hungry 'Get them out…'

'Sabaku-sama, please be polite.' She hissed, under her breath, giving him a look that was murderous simply because she rather felt like hurting him right now. A lot. Too bad he didn't look like if he could spare much blood at this moment. She rather had the feeling that if it hadn't been because the redhead had a sort of inhuman ability to withstand large amounts of damage, he'd probably be a in a coma and not just looking sick and annoyed about it. 'They are the elders from Mount Myōboku'

'Shima-sama, Fukusaku-sama, this is Sabaku no Daichi.' she told the pair with polite bow 'He is Sandaime Kazekage-sama's pupil. I'm very sorry for imposing on you like this, but he issued a jutsu that used most of the iron in his body. Do you have any sort of iron supplements or anything like that? Maybe something sensei left?'

The redhead didn't even try to look sorry. He stopped caring some time ago.

'Oh dear, Kazekage's pupil?' muttered Fukusaku, looking at him a bit quizzically 'So he can do his jutsus as well?

'No, he can't,' the blonde said laconically. 'That's why he's half dead now.' Damn it. He still was coherent, but Minato was thinking about anemia and the fact the redhead could very easily slip in a come any moment now…

'I'm not sure, Ma, do we have anything with iron left?'

'I don't know, maybe you should feed him the frog's oil.' Said the woman, but it was more or less ironic as she seemed to be touched by the fact he rejected her kitchen 'I don't think that Jiraiya-chan left anything beside his por-'

'That's all right, that's all right…' added the old male frog 'We're not medics, so we can't really give professional help, but there should be some nutrition balls left after all… that won't last for long, but I think it would be enough to get him the real care.'

'I don't think the oil would help, but thank you very much for the offer.' The blonde didn't think the redhead knew what it was for, but she doubted it was part of a dietary supplement. And besides, as funny as it sounded, she didn't want the idiot to do something else and accidentally turn himself into a toad.

'I need to get to Konoha.' But she didn't have time to roam around secret paths. Even if she was feeling perfectly fine and went as fast as she could, there was no saying how long she'd take, as she'd probably get lost at least a couple times. Not that she didn't think she could find the way on her own, but she'd only come with her sensei so far, and she didn't really have time to walk back and re do bad paths she took. She tried to think, but all she managed was look at the floor, chew on her lip and rise her head to give the older nin. Without thinking, she raised her mouth to her lips and started biting on her nails.

'No, no, no, Minato-chan, you can't go on like this in this state.' Said Fukusaku, pushing her back on bed gently 'I'll send a toad to Jiraiya-chan, he surely will bring something quicker than anyone before. Just wait for it.'

'And in the meantime I'll do the proper dinner. Maybe young man will regain his appetite by then.' Said Shima and trotted away. Soon, the male followed.

'Maybe Jiraiya-chan will castrate me before he will help me. Maybe I'll manage to die before Jiraiya-chan gets here.' Mocked quietly the redhead. He really didn't want to get it on with the white haired Cerberus of Hades right now.

'Shut up.' the blonde said from her spot to bed, hand still firmly stuck to her mouth as she diligently chewed away bits and bits of her nail. Only, she didn't think the redhead was that far away from the mark. She kind of hadn't told him she would be going back to the academy, much less that it was to go on a suicide mission to try and tame the blood thirstiest team that it had seen in its seven years of existence. And maybe, if she was lucky, he wouldn't kind out either, but they kind of hadn't parted in the best of ways and he didn't know what the redhead had done to himself. So maybe in his mind a little practical joke, and then Sabaku died horribly and she would have to explain it to her captain-

'_Dear taicho: the good news is that I managed to find Sabaku: the bad news is that he is an idiot and half killed himself, and then sensei decided to come over and finish the job.' _

She should have never left Konoha. She was doing so well in the assassination squad.

'This is your fault.' And it sounded odd, like a completely different conversation, and that only made her feel worse. Without another word she tossed the covers away and got up again, picking 'Stay in bed and try not to die. I'll be back soon.'

Pulling back the sleeves of the too big yukata and tying them behind her back, she waited a moment to make sure it was all in place, then made a small sign with her hand. 'Come on, Take.' The dog let out a questioning bark and quickly got up, trotting after the female.

'I've never asked for you to bring me here.' Muttered the man and covered his head with a quilt. If she didn't, anything of that wouldn't really happen. Maybe something else would, but he didn't know anything about that – he was here and he was still denied something just as simple as a bite of iron. A few moments later he was asleep again.

Minato ignored the redhead. If she hadn't brought him here, lack of iron would be the least of his worries. In fact, he'd probably had an excess of iron. In form of spikes, and likely imbedded in painful and vital places. The saddest part was that the clearest part of such a mental image was imagining Kazekage-sama tapping his lips with his fan and giving the agonizing redhead a reproachful 'now look what you made me do, I hope you are proud of yourself' stare.

It didn't take long at all once she issued the order. Those Inuzukas really knew how to breed their seemingly monstrous cross of dogs well, because Take took all of ten minutes to find a boar and she barely had to do anything at all, because despite being much smaller than the animal, the dog brought it down almost single handedly. She didn't really have the time, but couldn't help praising and coddling the dog for a minute, before dragging the carcass to where the elders were. She didn't really have the time to skin it and couldn't for her life remember what parts besides the liver were good for iron, so she just asked the old couple to give the redhead whatever was best for his situation and left before they decided to forcefully drag her back to bed.

She decided to try her luck finding Gamabunta. Maybe he would have a better idea than trusting her sensei to bring anything.


	24. Chapter 24

When Daichi woke up again, the first thing he saw was meat. Lots and lots of meat. He had almost thought he was dreaming. And yet… it was reality. He looked down. The dog sat near him, looking at him like if he was an idiot.

'I'm not spoiling you.' he said, reaching for particularly bloody part of meat –it seemed all was raw, only with some kind of herbs 'Go away.' He had no idea who or how this came to him, but as far as he was, survival was his main point. He could think later. The first bite almost made him cry.

'I will eat it.' He muttered to himself, chewing slowly on the meat, but he felt his stomach doing a suspicious jump. 'I will.'

His body didn't want to. He had almost vomited it when he had managed to swallow it – finally. But he ate worse and he seriously was at need, so he didn't give his body time to discuss with him. He didn't feel better at this point, but what could he do. Throwing the last bite of the meat he tried to eat to the dog he moved the bowl away and lied under the quilt once again. Raw meat was always so nauseous.

Minato gave him a look to make sure he was breathing, then busied herself with rearranging everything she had messed up before. She folded again the clothes and repacked everything, being a bit more careful with the vials this time around. She didn't want to say that Gamabunta was smarter than the couple of elders… he just apparently was a lot more practical, if what they planned to do could be called that. At least it was fast enough, or so she thought, considering they were leaving as soon as the redhead could handle it.

Once done, she put the backpack away and went back to sitting next the older nin, for some reason hesitating a moment before reaching to touch him again. His skin was still coldish, but she thought that maybe it was a tad bit warmer than before. Maybe.

'Sabaku-sama?'

'Mh?' was the lazy, half-baked answer, slurred through the not very awake man. Daichi had turned back to her, but didn't open his eyes, so he had ended looking like if he hadn't woke up at all 'I'm wakin', I'm wakin'…'

It seemed his head didn't hurt anymore, but he still felt weakened and pale. He knew he should have eaten more, but it was a matter of how much his stomach would actually take. He cracked his eye open. 'I had a dream that you were a man.' He muttered and covered his head with a quilt. 'What a blabbering…'

The blonde immediately frowned at that comment, moving her hand away.

'I'm sorry I can't be a man.' If her words had been made into solid matter, they would probably have icicles clinging to them.

The redhead didn't react at first. Then he uncovered his head and sat straight on abed staring at the blonde through squinted eyes.

'Well, excuse me.' He said in a annoyed tone 'It's not my fault you're not one either.'

The blonde glared back at him for a moment, blue eyes staring into his dark ones as if she wished to drill through them. Just the same. He might be worse in some aspects, but in the end he hadn't changed at all from three years ago. Just like that looked away and her whole instance relaxed back to her default apathy. It almost looked like something she'd made easily.

'If you are feeling well enough, one of the toads will summon us both to Konoha. You can get medical care there.'

The redhead didn't miss the change of the air. So it seemed it was still a fragile topic, huh? Who would have thought.

'Really?' he said with a grimace. That didn't sound like such a good news after all. He was never in Konoha so he had no idea what to expect of it, but knowing it was a town of Minato's he could expect many things. Especially as it was also Jiraiya's town as well. 'Then what are we waiting for?'

'You.'

Turning around, she grabbed his backpack and put it on. She really wasn't in the mood to be nice to him at this moment, but she'd be lucky if she didn't have to carry him as well.

'There is a portal to Konoha, but only toads can use it.' She explained as she rolled up her futon and made sure she hadn't accidentally dirtied anything too much. She also didn't try to change from Jiraiya`s yukata. Her clothes were in a state she'd rather not think about after one day of hard running under desert sun. 'Miya-san left already, but it will take her a few minutes to get to the village.'

The redhead blinked, then frowned.

'Should have told me sooner.' He muttered and jumped off the bed to start cleaning the vials 'I have a mess to put in order.'

And besides he still felt a bit weak, so he was also in bad mood. The blonde seemed to live through some never-ending chain of hate he didn't deserve and didn't want from her. Women. He never understood them.

Minato had only made a grimace at that. Go figure.

'What's wrong with you again?...' he muttered under his breath. Now wasn't that wonderful. For some reason he had ended up being under the dagger of her hate once again. That was certainly not pleasant and he really didn't know what he did. But as he didn't want to ruin the schedule he crawled out of the bed and fixed it as fast as he could. Which was not a bad pace.

The blonde heard him, and it provably showed how strained she was after all that had happened that it was almost a physical effort to not acknowledge the comment and simply tell him what was wrong with her. Even if she explained it, he wouldn't understand, and he'd probably just end up saying something that would make her want to murder him. And really, right now there were just too many opportunities too good to pass for her to want to be tempted into any of those.

'Let's get going.' He said finally.

She raised her eyebrows at that. Go where? It's not like if there was a parting point or anything, they just needed to wait to be summoned- before she could finish the thought, the two of them plus the dog appeared on a hospital room where two nurses were already preparing what looked like blood bags, one of them already in the default 'disapproving nurse is disapproving of half dead ninja' expression most members of the medic line seemed to reserve especially for them.

The redhead on the other hand didn't try to complain about the disapproving look he had got – he decided that if anything, he'd rather not argue with Konoha's nurses. He had enough of knowledge with one to try to be arrogant. So, he let himself be dragged to transfusion in silence as other women took the blonde to look up her burns.

While Daichi was getting a blood transfusion and saline solution and shots of iron that the blonde seriously didn't envy him, Minato was lathered on something that was horribly sticky but felt wonderful against her skin. Mayu insisted on staying until she was sure Minato was getting the proper attention, not that she thought she needed it, but after all the problems her familiars had gone through to help her, the blonde obediently stayed until the large female was satisfied and left, promising to thank the elders in her name.

She thanked the nurses as well, but declined the offer to stay for the night, as she hardly could claim to need it. After getting the burns on her hand rewrapped so it wouldn't get worse, she went to see the redhead.

'I'm going to see Hokage-sama, and then send a hawk to the academy to let them know we are here. Is there anything you want to tell your captain?'

The redhead had only shrugged. So far his arms hurt from being all drilled with needless, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

'My captain…' he said, then frowned. 'I don't have a captain. My captain left to my village and left me alone with some crazy chicks.'

The blonde stared at him blankly, like if he hadn't said anything at all, or maybe what he had said wasn't even worth being registered as part of her long-term memory files. 'Is there anything I should tell anyone in the academy?'

'Not really.' Ad it was the whole answer. He was now a part of his own team and he had no close friends on his own. His group of followers might get worried for him, but it would be better if they knew nothing. It would spread to the wrong ears and if that would happen… the Third would have his balls and it would be just the beginning. 'Maybe one thing. Tell Kushina Uzumaki that if she sold any of my things I'll remove her uterus with coat hanger.'

'Very well.' she said, some odd twist of anger tightening her throat at the mention of the red haired woman. Of course, he left the academy without looking back and the kunoichi didn't even know about it, and now he worried about her. Sure, why not. 'If at any point you need anything, please tell the nurses or guards, they will know where to find me.'

Because she had no intention of coming to see him until she absolutely had to. She was home, and she had only a billion better things to do than baby-sit suicidal Sunanins. Like meeting her Hokage, sending that hawk, taking Take to Kakashi kun and maybe take him out for dango or ramen, giving her storage tattoo a new coat of henna, organizing her scrolls and maybe start tugging at the barely-there strips of dried skin that had begun to appear on the back of her hands.

Daichi had just starred at her with indifferent look.

Perfect. Once out, she whistled for the brown dog that the nurses had rather heartlessly ordered to wait outside.

'Come on, Take, I'll leave you at taicho's house and you can wait for Kakashi-kun there.' The way the dog's tail started wagging at the mention of the name showed how well he recognized it.

It was too early for the white-haired kid to be out of basic academy, so she broke into their house to leave some water and food for the dog. Well, 'breaking in' was a bit of a badly placed description of what she did, because taicho had given her permission to come in and even told her where the traps were so she could get in if there was any need to, but just in case she left a note for the boy to know she'd been around and that she'd be back later and they could eat together if he wanted to wait a bit for her to return. 'I'm sorry Namikaze-san.' the secretary told her with a small smile 'Hokage-sama is busy right now, would you mind waiting?'

Figures. It seemed like being a Kage consisted on interminable reunions and discussions and sealing and signing on scrolls. Sometimes she wondered how appropriate was to give the strongest ninja of the village an administrative charge, it just seemed like a pity to her.

'Not at all.' she looked at the clock. Past a full day since they had disappeared, taicho would have a fit. 'Can I borrow a scroll? I still need to inform Hatake-san of what happened with us, I'd like to send him a hawk as fast as possible.'

By the time the Sandaime's office opened and she was allowed in, she had already consumed half of the content of the candy cup the secretary kept at her desk and asked a chuunin to take both scrolls she'd written and send them.

When she went out, the blue-grey ball jumped her legs with a loud 'hooray' with all its might, obviously not even making a one thought about how that might work wonders against the gravity. 'Minato has came back to village! Minato came back to village!' it shouted along with 'Where's dad?' and 'Will you play with me?' and the laughter that rang across the halls quite loudly, disturbing the secretary and passerby. Obviously, the young Hatake was a loud kid.

Minato didn't seem to react one way or another, simply pressing a hand over the boy's mouth and dragging him along with her.

'Quiet, Kakashi-kun. We are at the Hokage's office; don't interrupt people who are working.' It was quite impressive, how easily such a short girl could move with the seven-year-old limpet stuck to her side. 'Are you done with classes for today?'

'Mmmfhhhgghhhh.' answered truthfully Kakashi. Somehow, the hand didn't seem to bother him at all.

The blonde's lips twitched a bit at that, but it was only once they were out of the building she released his mouth. 'What was that?'

The grey haired teen blinked, then smiled at the blonde. He missed two teeth in upper and lower jaw.

'I said I'm not.' He repeated giggling 'But I left the clone in classes so it's okay.' And not a moment later, something from the close direction had exploded.

'Oh no.' muttered some man 'An ambush?'

'What's happened?' asked some old woman 'Are we attacked?'

'It was an explosion!' said loudly some woman 'It came from the school's direction!'

And the people started running toward the direction of where the grey mist seeped in the air. 'Teehee.' Said Kakashi cheerfully, once again showing his lacks in both jaws. 'Oops.'

Minato stared in the schools directions, then covered her eyes with a hand and winced, taking it away as she'd forgotten how sticky that cream thing had been

'Kakashi, you can't skip through classes like that. Not if your clones can't handle it.' Everyone did that sort of things in the basic classes for ninja, especially on the first years, which provably amounted to 2/3 of the accidents kids below the ages of ten and their teachers went through.

It showed how talented the silver-haired boy was, that he could make a perfect clone already, but that didn't mean it would last as long as it was needed. She decided it was a good time to steer him away before his teacher came trying to kill him. Again. 'I haven't eaten since yesterday, what do you want to have?'

'Sorry.' Said the kid not for once losing his nicked smile and started jumping along her on one leg without a glint of worry 'Please, don't tell dad.' He laughed a bit at that, and changed the leg, until he had stopped near her and caught her by the hand. 'I'll be good.' He said 'And I'd eat gummy bears.'

'And let your teacher miss the opportunity?' Kakashi would be lucky if this time the kid's teacher didn't decide to send a letter to his father. She didn't envy her captain at the moment, much less when he managed to get enough vacation time to come back. She gave the boy's hand a little squeeze, but didn't let go of it. It didn't really surprise her, that Kakashi would be somewhat clingy of her person, because she usually liked having the energetic brat around.

Minato had met Kakashi when their team had returned from a mission over at Grass, and Sakumo had needed to stay at the hospital for several days. Kakashi was too much a handful for the nurses to handle, so her captain had asked her to look after the boy until he could leave. The blonde was just as bad dealing with little kids as she was with their adult counterparts, but thankfully for the both of them, Kakashi was nosy and talkative for the two of them. No one really seemed to understand the reason, but Minato both liked having the grey-head around and didn't think a kid his age should be left alone on his own, talent-in-the-making or not.

She took him home with her, and considering she rarely bothered with closing the door and his father's frequent absences, that's where the boy could usually be found. 'Gummy bears are dessert, not food. What about okonomiyaki?'

'Maaa, okonomiya is good!' said the kid, jumping a bit and smiling. He was grabbing attention of passer bys rather easily, even if everyone was heading toward the place where the explosion went off 'O-ko-no-mi-ya with o-cto-pus, o-ko-no-mi-ya-ta-ko-ya-ki-ki…' It seemed that the kid took pleasure with playing with words as he didn't really pay attention to anything else and didn't seem very concerned about his teacher also. He jumped up at every syllable and looked around, smiling wider when his eyes landed on the blonde.

'… okonomiyaki with octopus, octopuses have eight wiggly hands so if you want to dance, take your hat off…' And pretty soon, the chanting has changed into the song, that was cut off as soon as it started. 'I want okonomiyaki with gummy bears!'

'Ew.' the blonde commented, reaching with her free hand to ruffle the sort of poofy white hair. 'That's disgusting.' And it was good to be home. It was amazing how one little person made you feel accompanied when a ground full of people you had to forcefully interact with day in and out made you feel so alone. 'Come on, let's go get something to eat.'

She had already explained the Hokage what had happened and had sent the note to her captain. All that was left was wait for the medics to be done with Sabaku. 'I need to go to the hospital and see how long I'll be staying.'

'Hooray!' shouted the kid, lifting both of his hands, including the blonde's. There was nothing better than to have an enjoyable meal with an enjoyable person, and he liked the blonde jounin. She was one of few girls who treated him like he liked. Without all the preaching. He blinked.

'You're not staying for long?' he asked, then stopped on the spot. Those were not good news. 'But I wanted to train with you!'

'Coming back was unexpected.' the older girl told him, still tugging him in the direction of the stands. She cared about the topic, but she had very recently realize the lack of food meant she was really quite hungry. 'My-' and then she stopped, frowning. Finding a title that described her relationship to Sabaku didn't come easy. She actually had to think about it some good ten seconds before finding an article she found somewhat fitting.

'…I had to bring another ninja from the academy her because this was the closest hospital we had at the time. I just dropped him off before I left take at your home, so by the time we are done eating, I can pass the hospital and see how long he needs to rest before we can go back.'

'That's not fair…' started the kid, but he obediently followed the blonde. Some random ninjas were usually what stopped him from enjoying his time with dad and Minato, since they were much more occupying than the missions. But at the name of Take he had immediately smiled back again. 'Is dad home too?'

'He's at the academy.' swamped with work, assigning missions, trying to keep the soldiers from killing each other…

Kakashi had only giggled at that. 'He said that when he will be back, he will do something cool so everyone would know he is at home.' He said with a smile and turned to the side, dragging the blonde with him. Minato always ate at this one and only ramen stand and he wanted to have something nicer once he was not the one paying for it 'What's happened to your face?'

'The shinobi I had to run after thought it was a good idea to go under the sun, right through the dry plains and into Wind country.' The blonde took a moment to think about that, idly reaching to scratch at the bridge of her nose and making a face again when she felt the cream there. 'He didn't choose a particularly good time of the day to do it, but he's used to it and I'm not.' She wiped the substance off in the yukata. 'I'm going to peel horribly.'

Kakashi blinked at that and leaned closer, sniffing her lightly. Then he moved back with a grimace on his face.

'That ninja must've been pretty stupid to do that.' He said, sticking his tongue out 'I bet he looks like a prune.'

Minato was silent for a moment.

'Not really.' The bastard looked good as ever. She supposed he was already used to the unforgiving sun and would take a lot more exposure for him to get to the state she was. Bastardly bastard and his developed melanin cells. She smiled a little. '…but then he had the brilliant idea of removing all the iron in his blood for a jutsu that people without bloodline limits can't control and now he's half dead in the hospital.'

The kid blinked, surprised. He had never even thought for once that such thing was even possible. How could one remove iron from his body? He imagined the big magnet sucking out the black squares out of an average ninja, but even at that point it seemed ridiculous. 'Sounds scary.' He said finally and waved at the waiter. 'He must be a strange ninja then.'

'He's an idiot.' the girl replied immediately, leaning on the table with a clearly unhappy look. 'And he hates me, so I have no idea how I'll get him to listen to me.'

Kakashi tilted his head to the side at such statement and leaned forward on both of his elbows, smiling. 'How can anyone hate you?' he said and dangled his legs under the table 'He really must be an angry man.'

'He is.' and stubborn and selfish and just plain suicidal, apparently, but that wasn't the point. Regardless of all that, he had always been nice… So nice to her. And then her stupid period had to come, ruining everything, everything she had spent half of her life building, to the point she had practically forgotten herself she wasn't any different from any other guy.

'He's angry at me because I'm not a man.' the girl said, tugging at the bandages on her left hand a little as if they bothered her. He hates me.

'This seems pretty stupid.' said Kakashi looking at her with a thoughtful look. It was not very deep as his childish head didn't gain the experience to consider depths of life to be complicated. 'If I was his friend, I'd hit him on the head. Being a girl doesn't mean anything.' Well, maybe beside the fact that girls actually could cook a bit better and that he missed having a mom a bit. But that didn't seem to be a point. 'He should stop being so angry.'

The comment made her smile, but it was a bit less natural that it would have otherwise been. Another good thing there was about living in Konoha… and another reason while she liked the younger boy so much. If her mind had been more developed in those areas, she would have also figured that was another reason he was so popular with girls even at such a young age, but such matters were a question mark of abysmal proportions to the blonde.

'If I have to stay for the night, you can stay over at my department.' she said casually, as if she didn't mind one way or another or wasn't changing the topic completely. 'But you'll have to help me clean.'

The kid had only smiled with wide nicked smile.

'Fair trade.' he said. It's not like Minato ever made a mess. Besides, it would be nice to sleep inside a house with someone else. That and the dog made a great company and a reason to not sleeping.


	25. Chapter 25

'A week…?' she repeated incredulously.

'At least a week, Namikaze-san.' Disapproving nurse told her, still looking rather disapproving. 'The levels of iron in his body were quite low, and it's not something you can just recuperate from immediately after. He's lucky he didn't lapse into hemolytic coma, or get an hemorrhage that wouldn't stop.' Minato was suddenly glad her familiars lacked claws or razor sharp teeth… on their majority.

She had been expecting to be told she would need to stay the night, maybe even a couple days, but a week without him so much as moving from the hospital?

'And can we leave after that?' The nurse gave her such a frown the blonde immediately started wondering if she was somehow related to Tsunade.

'Do you have any urgent mission you need to finish, Namikaze-san?' the older woman asked amiably. Minato could have lied, but the truth was she didn't quite dare to.

'Not really, but-'

'Sabaku-san will need to be kept under watch until the levels of his blood stabilize, and he will still need to have shots regularly for another couple weeks.'

'Then I suggest for you to get comfortable because that young man isn't moving out of here until the doctor says he can.' The woman said, hands on her hips and thrusting out her chest in a way that anyone but Minato would have realized was the woman trying to make a point on regards of their age difference. 'And he's not leaving the village until he can handle the trip.'

Minato would have liked to point out a day and a half trip was hardly something Sabaku wouldn't be able to handle, but as soon as she opened her mouth the nurse narrowed her eyes and the blonde smartly shut her mouth.

'I understand. Thank you for your time and attention, Kasumi-san.' She sighed. For someone who supposedly was in such a hurry to go back to training, Sabaku had quite a knack about wasting time. 'Come on, Kakashi-kun. I need to write to taicho to let him know we won't be back for at least a week-' the prickling on her back indicated that 'disapproving nurse' seemed to be quickly evolving into 'irate nurse' '- or two. Three, maybe. Let's go.'

Daichi took his news just as happily. Which means in silence, and when the nurse finally thought he had heard what she tried to tell him, he showed her a tongue. Thankfully, it was when she was showing him her back, or probably two weeks would turn in a month and rehabilitation.

'As if I will' muttered the teenager when the door had finally closed. After fifteen minutes of laying in loneliness, he was too bored to stare at the ceiling anymore. Sure, he was still weak – but he was not going to run a mile now, was he? Quietly, he jumped out of the bed and lowered his blood vial. When it was low enough, he started doing pushups. He was not going to waste time at such place, especially with this mild weather that seemed to be indecisive of whether to be warm or not.

If the blonde hadn't intervened he'd be in a different place now.

'Twenty three… twenty four…' And maybe it would be all different. He wouldn't have to eat iron from the spoon… 'Thirty one… thirty two…' …and maybe the Third would help him somehow… 'Thirty seven… ugh…' He stopped. It seemed it was too much for him even now. Especially as he had to wait to regain breath to sit back on the bed again. Gods! He was going to waste time like stupid! And a moment later, he fell into a shallow sleep.

Minato didn't go to see the redhead. She was still irritated at him for that stupid comment and didn't care for having a reprisal of it, because she was sure the redhead would blame her for his current status. It seemed that when it came to Sunanins, you couldn't save their lives without them trying to kill themselves all over out of spite.

Instead she went to her department and aired and dusted the place –not that there was that much as far as furniture was concerned- took the things she needed out of scrolls to make the area more easy to live in, fed the cat from hell that seemed to think was entitled to wonder into her department as if it owned the place and she had never decided to discourage, then went to buy some groceries.

Her plans for the rest of the week consisted on pretty much the same schedule, including training and maybe go snoop at the headquarters and see if there was some sort of short mission they could assign her so she wouldn't waste her time completely, or maybe go train to the forest a little while, but she hadn't so much as cracked some eggs to make themselves something quick and easy like rice omelet when there were some pecks at the window.

The grey aggressive gray tabby immediately perked up from its spot in one of the kitchen tables and gave the messenger bird a hungry look, but the trained animal just glared back sanginarily. It was apparently enough to dissuade the cat, and so Minato brought the animal in and fed it a bit of meat she had around to add to the food while she read the message.

_Even though I'm glad to know the both of you are alive and relatively well, I'm disappointed on you, Minato. I thought you had understood what I meant when I asked you to treat your teammates as part of your team instead of deciding things on your own and forcing those on them when you don't get what you want. I understand you didn't think there was any other option at the time, but you need to learn to be more flexible if you want to be a good captain for your team. I suggest for you to go and try to sort this situation out with Sabaku before this turns into something without a solution._

_Please keep me informed on his state and yours. If you can, please go check on Kakashi and tell him I love him and that I hope he'll be behaving. I'll be coming back to Konoha as soon as possible to see him. Hatake S. _

She swallowed, something sort of big and sour seeming to be stuck in her throat. If she didn't know better, she'd say it was the word 'disappointed'.

'That's not fair,' she muttered sullenly under her breath as she distractedly passed the letter to the white haired boy. There was nothing in the message that was exactly for her eyes only, and if she'd had a father like Sakumo, she would have liked to see that sort of things herself. 'Nothing of what happened was really my fault.'

Kakashi had looked at her for a moment, before reading a letter, and squealed when he had read to the part meant to him. It's not like he missed his dad very much, he was used to the fact he was gone more than present – as many of other daddies living there. At least he still had his, not like some guys here. This Umino, for example. He twirled on a wooden stool once and looked at the ceiling, pointing at his own chin. 'Dad wrote you force yourself on your teammates.' He said, then twirled on the chair again 'That sounds like if you had problems.'

Minato gave the hawk another bit of meat, then shooed it off, not in the mood or having anything pressing enough to warrant a reply. 'My team is the problem. They are idiots. Suicidal ones.'

Kakashi smiled at that, but a moment later his smile diminished a bit. 'Suicidals are weird. I don't get them.' He said, then stood up from the chair to catch the cat and cuddle it, even if the pet didn't seem to like it very much 'But if they're sad, then maybe you should cheer them up.'

The cat's eyes flattened against it head and started making a truly weird sort of low yowling noise on the back of its throat. The kind that indicated imminent scratching would commence in 5… 4… 3… 'Stop that.' The blonde said lowly, turning around to glare at the tabby. The cat glared back but stopped making that aggressive sound, even if it was still with its ears flat seemingly stuck to its skull and its tail swishing threateningly. 'They're not sad, they are just stupid. Stupid, hard headed idiots who can't follow simple orders without messing up.'

Kakashi had only patted the cat, like if it was a normal purring member of his species and not acting like something that could lash out at him in any moment. 'Then why don't you show them how to do it? When my dad showed me, I knew what to do.'

'You are pre-genin level, Kakashi-kun. They are supposed to be elite ninja, explanations is the last they need. Their problem is they just don't want to do what they are told, they are too busy breaking things and getting drunk and wasting good money.' She realized she'd stopped paying attention to the omelet a second or two before it started smoking, quickly pushing it out of the fire and wincing when the heat off the flame passed over her burnt hand. 'I just want to strangle them most of the time.'

'You can't do that, you'd go to jail.' Said the kid wisely and patted the cat once more before letting it go 'Dad always says that when you're a team you have to do everything together, so maybe drink with them. So they'd do missions with you later.'

The blonde stirred the omelet. 'Sensei took me drinking once while we were on Earth country.'

The kid blinked at that and closed the space, looking at the omelets with curiosity. It smelled good for his tastes. His dad always burned his. He learned to like them the most such way. 'How was it?'

Minato as silent for a moment, staring blankly ahead with the spoon in her hand close to her lips. After a moment, she turned to give the younger boy a look. 'We can never go back to that town.'

There was no way Kakashi could understand that, but he learned to not question people who were older than him when it came to such answers. So he had only smiled. He didn't know the blonde's sensei also – he saw him maybe once or twice. The man had nicely white hair. Nothing special much. 'There's a lot of towns around.'

The older girl just shrugged, giving the boy a distracted ruffle and shoving the off the counter when the daring thing tried to jump in to get a sniff of what was in the pan. Scraping the contents of the pan in two plates, she put one in front of the boy's seat and sat down in the opposite chair.

'Hurry up, you will be late for academy.'

Kakashi had shoved the thing in two bites, the last one making his cheeks look like one of a very hungry hamster.

'I won't.' he said around a mouthful, yet being quite understandable 'I have never been late and I will never be.' And he was already jumping off the floor, chewing, wearing shoes and bag pack and all at once.

'Bye!' he shouted, still chewing, and closed the door. Not a minute and he was gone.

The blonde was left looking after the energetic boy, her cheek held on one palm. She would have probably stayed in that position for a lot longer if it hadn't been because the cat jumped on the table. The grey tabby looked at her, took a moment to groom one paw and then calmly sauntered towards Kakashi's plate, stopping to sniff the leftover crumbs on it before delicately lapping at them.

She considered pushing it off the table the same way she had done in the counter, but really didn't see much of a reason to do it. She turned to her own breakfast, though she wasn't that hungry anymore after all of this.

No, she wasn't going to follow the advice. There was no way she would go to talk with the redhead. ***

'Hi.'

At least he looked to be bored out of his mind, if the fact he was trying to exercise when she was willing to bet her favorite pair of running footwear disapproving nurse had told him not to.

The redhead had only slightly turned his head toward her, catching her by the glimpse of an eye. He hadn't seen her earlier, but even if the headmaster of the hospital had jumped in from his cardboard, he wouldn't stop his exercising. He was in the middle of muscle stretching and that had to be done from the beginning to an end, or else it would pay in bad pains and hardened muscles later. He turned his head forward and bowed down in another stretch.

'What do you want.'

'Just came to see if you were still alive.' the blonde said calmly, slipping into the room, her hands on the pockets of yet another white track suit. 'Kasumi-san seems to think you could have done that rather easily.' Idiot, she wanted to add, but refrained from it.

The man had only shrugged at that. He was not in the mood for bearing with another of the moods of the blonde. The hospital's food was awful – he was forced to eat sweet rice with sweet milk and drink the sweetened tea. Now his stomach felt nauseous after such a big dose of mulled over food.

'If you have nothing important to tell me, then go away. I'm sick, I cannot stress out.'

There was no other furniture in the room, so she leaned on the side of the bed she was closest to, giving her back to the redhead. 'You wouldn't be sick if you hadn't tried to kill yourself.' the girl pointed out, not unkindly.

Daichi blinked and frowned. What the hell was she talking about?

'I didn't try to kill myself, I was defending myself. Wouldn't have to do that, if you wouldn't teleport us to the frog kingdom.' He said and stood up, stretching his back backwards, so he was now bending and facing her at the same time.

'You tried to kill yourself the first time by going to Suna so Kazekage-sama could rip you to bits for abandoning your duties without a word, running from your debts and acting like if nothing.' the little side table next to the bed was depressingly empty, she ran her hand over the cheap, standard semi-plastic wood. 'The second time you tried to do something you know perfectly well you can't do without a bloodline limit. I don't see how you would defend yourself in the state it left you. It's not like if you could have held that jutsu much longer, and as you pointed out, you carry in your bag useful stuff like poisons, not things for transfusions.'

'Maybe I would be shred to nothing, maybe I wouldn't, we will never know.' Said the redhead, then straightened up and stretched out his hands as far as he could. It was the last exercise in his book. 'I wouldn't have to try to meet my master if I was treated with enough respect and dignity.' He finally stopped and turned around to look at her. 'What should I have done then? Wait for them to give me a poisoning of my life? It would be just as good.'

That was a valid point, but she wasn't going to admit that right now.

'No one told you to try to break my spine when we were surrounded by only all my familiars but extended family. You should know how protective ninja animals can be about their contracted shinobi.' She said instead, turning her head lightly to give him a look over her shoulder. Still a lot paler than before, but at least he wasn't trying to blend over with the color white. 'And I doubt I've ever been anything but polite to you.'

The redhead had only stared blankly at her. Then he moved over the little table and took the cup with water that was standing there and started drinking.

'You're so polite it drives me crazy.' He muttered between one sip and another. He threw he a glance, then a second. Then he stood the cup down and started refilling it with the tea he was left in the glass pot. 'I don't know who taught you how to be a leader of a team, but you've obviously skipped the lesson on looking up the customs of your subordinates. You're attacking my only personal space with your feminine fatality and you dare to sit on my bed. You have never been polite.'

Minato wasn't very sure what happened then, much less what next, All she knew was that for a moment that funny noise you always seemed to latch on to you when everything was perfectly silent, that noise so much like when TV died at around four in the morning and all you were left with was that insufferable noise that seemed to be there just to penetrate your eardrums in the most annoying of ways.

Maybe Sabaku said something else then, she wasn't sure, nor was she sure how long did it exactly last, all she knew was that when the noise was gone, she suddenly had something pleasantly solid and heavy in her hand, so she took it out of her pocket and tossed it at the redhead as hard as she could at point blank.

It was a good thing she did it so hard, otherwise she wouldn't have lost the grip on the metallic thing, otherwise she might have tried to bludgeon the man to death with it. Slowly, limbs shaking lightly, she stood from the bed, staring at the redhead with wide eyes, her face seemingly unsure whether it should be aflame or deathly pale.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She wasn't even sure he had so much as tried to say anything at all. Inside her head someone was screaming unpleasantly loud. Mostly it was nonsensical gibberish, the sort of things she didn't want to look too deep into because she might accidentally say them out loud, and that'd be it for her- things, words, white, angry noise ((DARE BASTARD LEFT LIED FAULT)) Her mouth slowly closed, her tongue licking her lips lightly for a moment as her shoulder slowly relaxed.

She blinked at him slowly, as if she'd never seen him before and he had appeared in the most absurd of circumstances, unexpectedly.

'I don't want-' ((to see you to talk to you know you exist)) Her voice came out full of cracks and funny, and she closed her mouth again, taking a step back. Again 'I don't…' ((ever again touch me talk to me look at me ever again I want you to disappear I don't want to have met you)) She seemed unable to finish the sentence, and then she took another step back, scratching at the bandages on her hand, then pushing them on her pockets as if she'd caught herself doing something shameful.

There was a faint rustle of cellophane from one, and she slowly pulled out a small bag of some sort of nuts in it. She gave them more or less the same treatment she gave the redhead, staring at them as if she had no notion how they had gotten there. After a moment she looked up, the same somewhat shocked expression still in place as she stared at the older nin. Then she threw the bag of nuts at him as well, though understandably enough, they weren't quite in the same rage of melee weaponry the can had been. They sort of bounced harmlessly from his chest and dropped to the floor.

Minato followed the trajectory with her eyes, as if her attention span had been drastically reduced to following anything that moved, then stayed there. A moment later the girl just turned around and headed for the windowsill, somehow managing to almost trip on it, and then she was gone.

The redhead had observed her in silence. The hit with a canned milk was executed perfectly well, so it tripped him from his feet. He landed forward, letting go of the cup and pushing the pot of the table – both had landed on the floor, making a mess. He landed right into the biggest pool of the tea. Thankfully, somehow he missed the biggest shards of the glass. His head hurt. Otherwise he would have told her something about what he thought of her behavior. But then he was hit with pack of nuts and she was gone. 'What's wrong with you…' he muttered, and winced, holding his bruised place on the head. A moment later the door had opened with a bang, showing both scared and angered nurse.

'What did I tell you about getting up?' she yelled 'I told you you're not strong enough to even stand up, not even exercise! What a mess!...' He was pulled off the floor and pushed right into the bathroom to clean himself and look through his cuts. At the questioning gaze that was made when the nurse found the can and the bag of nuts, he had only shrugged.

'My head hurts.' He murmured. Pretty soon he was having x-rays for concussions. Gods, that was a great way to not to be bored.

Not knowing what to do and still feeling horribly rattled by what had just happened; she'd gone to the academy to wait for Kakashi. It's not like if she wanted to tell him what had happened -mostly because she didn't want to so much as try- and if she thought about what the other had said she could easily feel that white, distorted anger creeping back into her, making her want to pound something. She waited and waited and waited, but it was only nine I the morning, and if she stayed still another moment she thought she would go mad. And she couldn't exactly wait four hours and some for academy to end…

For a moment she considered go ask for some mission or something to do with her time, but the idea of taking a D rank only made her feel worse, and the more she thought about it, the more tired she felt. She decided to turn back home and by the time she pushed the door open, she was too tired to care for the offended looks the cat invading her department threw at her. She left the door halfway open, took off her jacket , left it on one of the tables and sort of collapsed on her bed as noisily as possible.

Unlike other people who tried to maximize the available space they had, Minato had a large mattress covering most of the available surface of her tiny bedroom. A foldable futon would definitely have helped as far as the radio of the walk-able floor ratio went, but the blonde didn't really need much furniture in the room she used to sleep. She liked mattresses better than futons and loved that when it was hot she could just roll into the colder part of the bed. Besides, she'd also found it useful in that when she had visits (which so far only amounted to Sakumo's son) she didn't need to bother with preparing an extra bed, just scoot to one side and the matter was solved.

She stayed where she was for a moment or two, then yanked the upper quilt and haphazardly threw it on top of her, completely obscuring her vision. It made breathing a little difficult, but she ignored that and closed her eyes. She was already half asleep when she felt something big and warm settle somewhere in her lumbar region. She wasn't really surprised when shortly after she felt tiny pick pricks on the same area before the weight decided to get heavier and start purring.

'Why do you only stick around like that when I feel miserable?' The cat's only answer was to purr louder. A moment later, the weight doubled, along with the numbers of words uttered by the cat. 'Got'cha!' it squealed, then laughed out loud, squeezing both Minato and the cat 'You left the door opened, how un-ninja like!'

'I always leave the door open,' the girl replied flatly, feeling the weight pushing her into the mattress. Who needed to bother with bolts or so much as closing doors when you had five frogs smaller than keyrings and who could suffocate you horrible if you so much as set a foot uninvited? 'Kakashi, go back to the academy. You can't just sneak out all the time, even If you leave a clone.'

'But it's boring!' muttered the kid and flatted out on her, not minding the fact that the cat also stilled out of the pretantrum or predying. 'They teach us again how to throw kunais and I wanted to train with my katana! The one daddy left me! I want to do wooosh! And waaaash! And be like a thunder, and, and be quick and unstoppable and… like dad! And they only throw kunais.' The body stilled for a moment, laying still, then squeezed them both even tighter, making the cat make gurgling noises. 'Minato please, teach me how to use my katana?'

'Katanas break more easily than kunais.' The girl replied in the same laconic tone. 'Kunais are also easier to hide and on extremely close distance, a katana won't do you any good.' The cat had stopped growling and now was making the sort of noise you would expect a growling dog that swallowed a whistling kettle to do. 'If you stop sneaking out and finish the kunai lesson with the best grades of your class, I'll teach you to use katana.'

The legs of the youngster flailed, making them both jump at the mattress, along with the mattress. 'You promise?'

'Yes.'

'Yes! Mission accomplished!' squealed the kid, and started making even more movement on the bed only to finally uncover the blonde from her cover. Then he smiled at her with wide happy smile and kissed her wetly on the cheek 'I love you, sensei!'

And with the poof, the clone was gone.

Once released the cat made a swipe at the kid that wasn't there anymore, still almost yowling threateningly, its fur standing on end. It took a few moments more to glare threateningly around to the now brat-devoid room, before sniffing disdainfully and starting to groom itself. Minato watched it without much interest, then covered herself with the quilt completely. Now she felt that same weird tightness on her chest again.


	26. Chapter 26

The blonde just grunted, having heard the boy but still too out of it to care. The cat probably was in the living room or out of the house, because she no longer felt it's threatening aura around. 'I didn't make lunch,' she muttered, not moving from her covered spot.

'Maaa, what a shame.' Said the kid and unrolled the quilt only to show her a pack of packed bowls full of soup and vegetables 'Then I can't throw that out as I planned, right?' He was too much used to his father forgetfulness to ignore such symptoms as Minato laying in bed when he made a clone visit her. The Third was so out of it that he didn't even notice.

Minato turned a little to stare at the kid, then reached for him and pulled him close to give him a squeeze. 'You are a genius in the making, you know?'

Kakashi had only giggled at that and hugged the blonde back. 'I know.' He laughed happily and tucked out of the squeeze to run to the kitchen 'Let's get to eat! While it's hot!'

It took a minute or two to gather enough willpower to move out of bed, and then the girl went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She had only napped about an hour or two, but with the amount of sweets she usually ingested she was used to the herbalish taste and wasn't really comfortable unless she felt her mouth was clean enough before eating anything. She wasn't surprised to the see the cat lurking by the bags while Kakashi finished setting the table, and she greeted the bitter creature with a firm push out of the counter. "Off or I'll kick you out.' Not that she took the threat too seriously. Regardless of how bitter and aggressive and plain mean the stupid animal was, she felt a sort of attachment for it.

'I'm eating!' shouted the kid from another room, already clinking with bowls and chop-stick 'Without you!'

The girl grunted a reply that would have made an Uchiha proud and walked to the kitchen, retrieving her jacket on the way and putting it on. 'Thank you for the food.'

'Geez, sensei, you really are slow when you're out of bed.' Said the grey-haired kid, smiling at her toothily from his still neatly packed up bowl. 'I had to make much louder noise than I do when I'm with my dad.'

'You could start without me, you know,' she said, resuming her seat. Shōyu ramen? Yum.

'No, I couldn't.' chirped the kid on his seat 'That would be rude.' And with that, he had started shoving the soup in his mouth like the worst pig on the whole street.

'You are being rude right now,' the blonde informed him, her lips tilting into a little smile before turning back down. 'Kakashi-kun...'

'Sorry.' Said the kid, not changing his way of eating a bit. He had looked up at her with questioning gaze, but didn't stop his pigging out even for a second.

The blonde ignored his manners, though in another occasion she would have probably insisted on him at least attempting to swallow the food instead of inhaling it.

'I went to see Sabaku at the hospital.' she said instead, stirring the ramen a bit with her chopsticks.

The kid kept looking at her, though he didn't stop eating the food. Which meant that another pair of liquid drops landed on the surface of the table.

'That angry one?'

'Hmm.' she said, wincing at the words chosen to describe him. '... I hit him with a can.'

Kakashi blinked and swallowed the bite he had in his mouth. 'That will teach him to attack you then.' Then he looked at her for a moment 'Why did you have can with you?'

'I thought he'd like it.' She knew he would at least prefer it, as it was unsweetened or that he liked almonds, but she didn't mention that. It sounded weird even to her ears, though she wasn't very sure why. 'He, uh... didn't attack me.'

'A can? He must be pretty weird to like such things.' said Kakashi and brought up the bowl to drink up from it a bit and burped then. Only after that he started eating another portion of macaroni 'Then why did you hit him?' That one twisted the kid's face in confusion.

Minato wasn't that out of it to wince at the boy's appalling array of manners. Maybe she really should teach him to eat. It's not that she was a clutter fan or that she gave that much importance to basic etiquette, but the kid was pushing it a bit too far. "He said something that made me really mad.' the problem was that she never reacted in such ways, even when her teammates in the squad had mocked her when she first had been introduced to the team. Minato tended to openly ignore any sort of attempt to get a rise out of her.

'What did he say?' asked the kid. Obviously, tact was a bit too foreign to him yet.

'I don't want to talk about it,' the girl said, not really bothered by the question, but willing to explain it also. She'd had to admit to several things she didn't plan to do now, or anytime soon. Possibly never.

'You started talking about it, not me.' said Kakashi with a shrug 'I thought it would be easier for you to talk it out. Dad always says it's easier like that.

'Not for me.' the girl said without aggression, eating another bit of meat from her still full bowl. 'I don't want to see him anymore.'

Kakashi had laughed at that. 'You can't. He is your teammate.'

'I don't care.' she stirred the ramen again, even if all she managed besides mixing the contents was to quicken the heat loss.

'I don't want to see him or listen to him anymore. One can't talk with him, and whenever he opens his mouth is to insult me or talk in riddles. I don't want to see him ever again.' She stopped what she was doing, a frown appearing on her face. 'I'll pay his stupid debt myself.'

Nevermind the fact it would take forever with just herself and Kushina on it, surely it wouldn't be half as taxing as trying to deal with the redhead. If only she didn't have the feeling he wouldn't accept such a deal. It would make him seem bad in the eyes of his precious sadist of a sensei to know there was a woman doing faster and better what his student couldn't.

Kakashi looked at her warily, but beside that he didn't really show his concern. It was an adult thing. Adult things were not his world yet and he had learned already that he was not wanted to speak much there if he didn't have anything interesting to say. But this time he wasn't with his dad, so he could at least try.

'You act weird.' He said as he took a bit at particularly big onion's piece 'You say you don't like him and you want to do things for him? I wouldn't do that.'

'It's more for me than for him.' the blonde replied, sighing a little and finally starting with the noodles. Delicious. Teuchi-san really had a hand when it came to ramen. 'I don't want to see him anymore, so I'd rather he go back to his stupid village so sensei can murder him grisly.'

Kakashi blinked and quietly chew on another vegetable, not leaving his eyes from her anymore. That was not what his dad told him all the time. Absolutely not him.

'Now I know why dad said you're a bad leader.' He muttered quietly. His smile was gone.

The blonde didn't answer for a moment, finishing the noodles she was quietly slurping on, then dabbed her lips. She finally looked up at him, her expression empty as she waited for the kid's verdict

'Dad never says such bad things about his teammates, no matter how bad they are. They're friends.' Said the kid, still looking at her like if she had just admitted that she eats little birds alive. 'It's not about you, but about you as a team and yet you say you do it for your own sake. If I was that ninja I'd feel pretty sad if I was told that I only want to be get rid of. Or angry.'

Minato didn't say anything for a little while, but that was simple because she didn't know how to explain what she wanted to. Thankfully, Kakashi either was aware of her difficulties or had better things to do because he didn't seem to get mad at her bout of silence.

'He has no reason to be sad or angry because he doesn't want me on his team either, much less as a friend.' She said after a little while, her expressions till showing she was thinking how to paraphrase all she wanted to convey. 'I wouldn't even care if he at least took his work seriously, I could work with him if he at least cared for his own reputation… but he doesn't care about anything anymore. I can't forgive a ninja who ditches his responsibilities and shames his village just to have fun. Regardless of my likes or dislikes, it is one's duty as a shinobi to do the best you can when in a mission. '

Kakashi had looked more at her in silence, quietly slurping the liquid from the soup. When he finally put it down, the thoughtful look came back to his eyes.

'Why do you care more about that he doesn't respect his village than what he is to you? Dad says that it doesn't matter who you are, but how you treat your friends.'

'Because if I can't respect him as a man, as a friend or even as a fellow human being, then I should at least be able to respect him as a shinobi,' the girl replied, taking a sip of her drink. 'But I can't do even that.'

Kakashi had looked at her, then finally turned his gaze away and started downing the last bits of veggies from his soup.

'Then there's no hope.'

The boy's tone annoyed her.

'I tried to talk to him.' she didn't like the fact she sounded defensive about it.

'I know.' said Kakashi, then smiled again, showing toothy grin. Bits of greens got tucked in his hole at the upper jaw 'With a can.'

The blonde gave the boy a dirty look. 'If I had a can right now I'd talk with it to you.' she informed him. 'Your table manners are appalling. You are going to learn to eat properly if you want me to teach you properly how to use that katana.'

'Whaaa…? That's stupid!' the boy immediately spun into whine 'This doesn't have anything to o with ninjutsu! I don't want to eat like those dull elders again!'

'Don't whine.' the girl said again, taking another delicate sip of her drink. 'You are old enough to be able to aim things properly to your mouth instead of everything surrounding you.'

'No way, you're just as dull!...' said the boy with the tone that obviously pointed at amazement and surprise, but it quickly turned into pout. He sat down, crossing his arms and looked at her from under his eyebrows like the most huffish boy on the world. A moment later the slice of a cooked carrot had landed on Minato's cheek.

'I guess you're right.' said the boy with a cheerful smile 'I completely cant aim my food to the mouth.'

With zen-like calmness, the blonde removed the carrot bit, adding it to her own soup, then cleaned the bit of broth left on her cheek. Slowly looking up, she faced the grey-haired boy with a sweet, friendly smile.

'Would you like some more tea, Kinichi-san?' The large yellow and orange toad occupying the better part of the kitchen nodded gravelly and wiped it's sweaty brow with a brown cloth.

'If you don't mind, Minato-chan.'

Both of them seemed exceptionally good at ignoring the small kid's struggling under the heavy, flabby bulk of the thing. 'It's very kind of you to invite me over for lunch, I haven't had ramen quite this good in a long time.'

'No problem at all, Kinichi-san, it's my pleasure.' The girl said as she served him another cup. 'How is your family?'

By the time the impromptu tea and lunch party was done, Kakashi barely could feel his limbs and the back of his body was dyed a rather unappealing brown-orange that looked like if he'd been dipped in iodine.

'It should fade away in a day or two.' the girl informed the pouting brat as she rubbed his hands to restore circulation. 'Go to your house to get clean clothes and bring your katana. We can go train after ice cream.'

'I wouldn't like you to be my captain.' Said Kakashi, still pouting 'You're scary.'

But a moment later he had smiled and threw himself at her. 'I won't let you sleep for the whole night long!' he squealed, and after a moment later he had poofed in teleportation, leaving the blonde hugged and also just as sticky as he was.

Minato sighed, wincing at her ruined track suit. She wasn't sure it would get the stains off. The cat approached her, as if sniffing her lack of luck.

'What, you want a hug too?'

The cat just stared at her, and after a moment, the girl set to clean the plates, draining what was left of the noodles and veggies on the bowls and placing them in a small plate, leaving them at ground level for the evil creature to pounce on quite happily. She changed out of her clothes, going to her closet and throwing it open, looking at the dozen equally white and pristine suits, only differentiable by the different stripes of color they had on the sides. Good thing she bought in bulk.

Once she was done, she went to the library where she kept all her scrolls and found the one she'd used when she'd first started training on the use of katana, planning on giving it to kid so he'd have the necessary protection gear for his legs and arms. She carefully tied it up and pocketed it.

'When I'm through with you, you won't be able to keep your eyes open, brat.'

As for Sabaku…

The Sabaku was getting very, very bored at the hospital. Once the nurses were through with him, he tried to cut his time with sleeping, but how long one could sleep? At fourth in the morning he started exercising again, and when he couldn't bear the chirping of those strange birds anymore – he opened the window and jumped out to run around the block. He had enjoyed the hour he spent on air – it was actually quite cold, but nothing as cold as deserted nights. The nature was definitely strange, something that he had seen only on images – too much greenery, too little free open spaces – but he could get through it.

After the alarm went off he thought that he could hide in it, but it seemed that nurses knew the grounds much better than he expected. The next day he spent tied to the bed. He was untied later only because he started threatening the nurses with going mad and letting the only hope of Suna die, so the war would break freely. After singing a drunken version of the funeral's psalm he convinced them so greatly he was let free and he was even given a book to read. It was a good thing to use when he wanted to learn the balance. He didn't expect the blonde to come back after what's happened, so when she did, he was quite surprised.

'What now, no axe?' he muttered without a trace of humor 'It would be good to break my skull, I assure you.'

Minato had known she had to apologize, whatever the final decision on what to do she had to take. No, she still didn't like what he'd said any less, but the more she thought about it (despite how much she tried not to) the more she felt her actions had been uncalled for. It wasn't like her to react violently to- well… anything. Yes, she knew she had to come and talk with the older man to tell him this, but she also didn't want to do it, and so she'd let Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday pass without making much of an effort to God an thinking to herself it wasn't a pressing matter.

She had managed to do that up until today, but now Kakashi was at the academy, teaching him anything else with his chosen weapon sounded dangerous and she had been emphatically told they didn't have anything good enough for her at the headquarters, unless she wanted to run an inventory of the available standard kits. She had finished those on Friday.

Out of excuses not to go, she had delayed some more trying to figure out if she could take something to lessen his anger, but of course, the only thing someone like Sabaku would appreciate were weapons, and after the incident with her last gift, she had the feeling the less blunt or sharp objects she had at arm's length in his presence, the better for the both of them. She had even briefly considered passing through the Yamanaka's flower shop, but giving cut greenery to Sabaku would probably offend him even more so… here she was. Empty handed, but full of promises to herself she wouldn't lose her temper ever again in this man's presence.

That included ignoring stupid comments he said. So no telling him the axe wouldn't be able to so much as chip his stupid head.

'I heard you are supposed to be discharged soon.' she said instead, looking at him calmly. The girl was clad in a blue turtleneck and black pants, and for a change, wearing her jounin vest. She didn't make any sort of movement to move from her current spot perched in the window. God forbid she invaded his maleish personal space. She didn't want to traumatize him.

'I don't know whether should I laugh or cry about that.' said the redhead and sat back on the chair he had got up from. 'Is there anything you want from me this time? Beside splitting my head open, I mean.'

'It would be nice to have you be a little less unnecessarily confrontational, but as I don't expect miracles…' the girl shrugged. 'Hokage-sama says you will be staying with me from the time you leave the hospital until you are cleared by a doctor for us to go back to the academy.'

In fact, the order had sounded pretty much like _'Your teammate Sunanin, your responsibility'_, so either she was paranoid or the word was plotting against her to drive her mad. She suspected the latter

'And the good news?' asked the man and started once again peeling the orange he was eating. It was by no means hospital's food, but he could barely stand it, so he had managed to walk around the hospital's garden and snatched to himself a few of things that seemed edible. So far he had only recognized lemons and oranges, but the red juicy ones were also quite nice. The weird shaped green ones had a lot of water, but were very sugared, so he couldn't really touch them. He was not sure how to eat the strange little green things. It tasted awfully bitter and had a big stone inside – quite possible that it was not even grown enough to eat it yet.

'Oh, those were probably good ones. So, the bad news?'

'They are not bad or good.' the girl said in the same tone as before. 'They are just news.'

The man smiled and proceeded eating. After a moment of silence he had finally turned his eyes on her. 'Then what else do you want? I heard you already and you still keep on standing here.'

And here came the part she didn't like, but it's not like if she could exactly keep ignoring it any longer.

'I wanted to apologize for what I did last time.' she said, playing briefly with one of the zippers on her vest. 'I shouldn't have done that.'

Like if. Daichi had smiled ironically and looked at her through squinted eyes, then peeled another slice of orange and put in his mouth. It was bitter, almost like at home. The blonde was once again playing at something and he had no idea what it was, but he was sure that he was not taking any part in it. She had never apologized before and now if he had cared about any apology, then the bruise at the head was the least of his worries.

'Okay, I laughed like crazy, now what is it?' he asked finally, not for a moment taking his eyes from his hands and the fruit in it.

'An apology.' the girl repeated. 'I shouldn't have hit you.'

'What, did you come to this idea by yourself or did you need help?' he asked then dropped another peel onto the table 'I'm sorry, I don't give a damn. Impress me with something else.'

'What else do you want to hear?'

'I don't know. Surprise me.' said the redhead and started chewing on one of the two remaining bits of the fruit 'I know you're good at it. I only wonder if you can be just as positive as negative you were.'

Minato actually thought about it, but the truth was that she couldn't think of anything good that would impress the redhead.

'I wouldn't have hit you if you weren't permanently trying to anger me for no reason.' the girl said, shrugging a little. 'I don't know why you are so mad at me, but it's not like us fighting will solve anything. It would be nice if you stopped acting like that.' The way she said it, however, indicated how little hope on that scenario she had.

That made the redhead spin into a litany of muffled laughs.

'Are you kidding me?' he mumbled between them 'You have taken out my position, my respect, my time and my free will of what to do with my payment and you dare to say that I still anger you? And for no reason she says! You heard that people? For no reason!' he yelled, shoving his hands, like if there was an audience that could listen to them. Then he hunched in laughter even more. A moment later, the remaining bit of fruit was smashed into juice along with the few cracks of the surface of the table.

'You know what? You know what, bitch?' he hissed, as he got up and moved toward her quickly 'It would be nice if you had killed yourself before I have ever met you. You changed my life in hell – both here' - he said pointing at his head 'And here' One of his fists punched carelessly at his left side of the chest. 'But that's impossible. Do you see me asking you to turn back the time to undo everything you did? No.' Then without a single warning, he slapped her with and angry punch, filled with frustration to the hilt.

'You have no right to think you are in advantage here. You owe me more of my sanity than I ever owed you in loyalty. I don't think that fight solves a thing, but with you nothing else makes anything better. So if you want to change anything, pray for gods to give you an idea, not for me.'

Minato saw the hit coming and steeled herself for it, not trying to avoid it. Despite it her face was violently slapped to the side. She tasted faint traces of blood inside her mouth, her head ringing, but as it had started to do that before the blow, she didn't give it much of a thought. The citrus scent of the orange that was now rubbed on her skin was suddenly overwhelming.

'I owe you, huh…' the girl murmured, her bangs covering her eyes.

The man grabbed her face by her cheeks so now he could look at her. 'Yes. Yes you do.' He muttered, leaning closer 'But I don't think I want anything else from you. Not after what you did.' And he let go of her, stepping back to the table. On the way there he picked a green lemon and started peeling it off.

'Good thing, then, you are not getting anything from me.' If she'd been in any position to do so, she would have patted herself in the back. How smart she'd been to not bring anything she could use to hit the man with. It was incredible, it was like if every time she saw him the anger she felt for him multiplied for ten. She didn't want to go too deep into math, but she was pretty sure the sum she was working on right now amount to at least a dozen ciphers.

'I'm sorry to break your bubble, oh great future Kazekage-sama, but all of this you did to yourself. You used to deserve that position, but now you are nothing but a jackass with inherited title no one would dream of so much as relating with your name if you didn't have bloodies that made you slightly above average than someone else. Your time in the academy was wasted doing nothing with your precious friend and the money you had is STOLEN because you didn't work for it so you didn't deserve it! Are you seriously whining for losing your easy way of life?'

The girl snorted, pulling blonde messy strands off her face, leaning back on the windowsill on a much more aggressive stance. 'Do you think you are the only one who would have rather we never met? Do you think what you did didn't affect me?' she wasn't even thinking about what she was saying anymore, her mouth seemed to be doing all the work for her perfectly well. It ran ahead of her mind at least by fifty steps. 'You were my best friend, the person I trusted the most and you betrayed me.'

Despite the scathing words, the expression on her face wasn't exactly fury. She had that odd, almost-scared expression again.

'I cared so much about what you thought about me, I believed everything you told me and in the end you were like everyone else! My teammates died and I was completely alone and you didn't care enough to so much as talk to me, so don't come now telling me it's my fault , you hypocritical bastard, because the one who lied to me was you!' She could feel her pulse, oddly loud and somewhat overpowering. She couldn't believe she was saying all of this things, all these secrets she had kept and worked hard on convincing herself had never really happened and never really mattered.

'I never asked you to hold me; you did that all by yourself. You *liked* touching me and you did it all the time, and then you call me a whore because I wanted you to do it again…?' Somehow she managed to refrain from flinging herself at him and starting to hit nonstop. 'So don't come now feeling violated about a woman too close to you, you imbecile! This woman was always the same person, the only difference is that you didn't know it. Don't blame me for your changes, because I've always been the same!'

The redhead had only performed through eating the lemon through the talk. He knew it by the heart now. You didn't deserve it, blah, blah, you lived an easy life, blah, blah. You stole, you were lazy, you did nothing, and so on, and so forth. She didn't understand and didn't even try to understand that while some things could be repaired, others were not, and no matter how ugly it was, some things were not done by one teammate to another. And for sure – not by captain to his or - in such case her – subordinates. He was about to tell her that, but then the trajectory of speech had wavered and turned suddenly into something completely different. Something he didn't believe he heard. At some point he stopped eating and just stood in his place, staring at her. That was unbelievable.

Almost like a trick. He slowly turned his head back to his place, looking at the wall in front of him. His food however was left on the cracked table. He had no appetite anymore. 'Why are you telling me this now?' he managed to mutter finally without cracking his face open. It was all he could do at this point.

Minato was now standing by the window, her whole body tense, her breath uneven. He was glaring at him in a way that suggested that if one could set things on fire with the powers of one's mind, Daichi would be a very charred wisp of ash. She didn't look like if she'd heard him.

The redhead felt the burning gaze on his neck. He closed his eyes. So, what he read, was true. If a woman couldn't love, she would pretty much hate. How uneven they were after all. He opened his eyes and turned his head sharply, holding her gaze. It was not easy. None a bit. 'Did you hear what I said?' he muttered through clenched jaws 'Why are you telling me this now? Answer me!'

The girl still didn't' answer, her stance unchanging. All of the sudden, she leaned against the wall. Her back did a curiously empty, dry sound as it collided against it.

'Because hypocrisy tires me.' she said, her tone several decibels lower than the angry tone she had used moments before. 'I'm tired of you trying to tell me meeting me was what ruined your life. If anyone ended up at loss because of that, it was me.'

'You're ridiculous.' Daichi finally turned his body toward her and crossed his arms on his chest as he used to do. 'What do you really have? Nothing.' He muttered 'No friends, no respect, no joy. All you're left with is your career that will probably rise high and will leave you dry, because it's the only thing you're left with. And what you had on the beginning?' He stopped, then moved toward her.

'Let me tell you.'

Step.

'Also nothing.'

Step.

'And I had everything and now I'm left with none. What difference does it make? Oh, let's start trying out who lost more and whose pain hurt more. Is that all you want?' He stopped in front of her and leaned forward. 'I don't give a damn whose pain is greater, I only know what I lost and I know whose fault is that.' He muttered 'And as for my love you already had it, but you managed to lose it with a bad playout of everything. So now don't whine about the burned heart if it was you who started the fire on the first place!'

She didn't ask him to get out from her personal bubble. The fact he was hovering over her didn't seem to affect her one way or another.

'Why do you keep insisting on this matter? I don't want to talk about this.' the girl said, her expression once again blank, though this time it seemed somewhat strained. She didn't know what half of the things he had said meant, and she didn't have any interest on analyzing any of them.

She had friends. She had Kakashi and taicho and sensei and Tsunade… and they cared about her. She knew that. She was happy. When she was home she was happy. Her career could never leave her empty, because that's all she'd ever wanted since she learnt she could be a ninja as well. If she could just prove that she could succeed, that she could be so much better, then-

'I don't know what you are talking about, but if telling yourself it is my fault satisfies you, you can do that, I don't care anymore. It was my own fault for placing expectations you couldn't meet in the first place.'

She shouldn't have trusted him. She knew that now, but back then she had thought if there had been one person who could respect her for what she could do rather than what she was…

'I didn't intend to whine about a thing, whatever happened then has nothing to do with me now. I would have never so much as addressed this issue if you hadn't pushed me into it.' It didn't matter now, not anymore. All she needed was to pay that stupid debt and then she could come back home and forget this caricature of her sempai existed.

'I don't want to talk about this anymore.' she repeated it a second time, not quite remembering she had said the same thing not a minute ago. 'I'd rather forget it happened at all, so don't mention it again, please.'

She was doing that thing with her eyes, staring to the far right as if such a gesture meant she was completely disconnected with whatever was happening around her. As usual, the added plea didn't sound like one at all, just a meaningless word she had added because she thought it would get her what she wanted more easily.

Daichi's frame stilled, hard and unmoving, almost like if he had changed into the stone. His face, full of furry, was now mixed with both confusion and pain. The only living objects in his face – his eyes – were now shining like black onyx jewels, feverish and shimmering. 'If you don't want to talk about it' he muttered in a low, throaty tone 'Then what the fuck are you doing here?'

'I came to tell you what Hokage-sama informed me on regards of where you would be staying and to apologize.' The tone indicated she thought such an answer would be obvious.

He stared at her, in silence, unmoving, breathing more audibly than it was really needed. 'Get out.'

'You are on the way.' she said, giving a look at the way his hovering larger bulk kept her pressed against the wall without exactly much room for her to slip out, save from physically pushing him away.

He smiled at her ironically, looking like if it was really something that could humor him, but the feeling didn't reach his eyes in the slightest.

'Women.' He said like if he was genuinely amazed by the new species. Then he suddenly grabbed her by the collar and dragged her toward the window by force, walking like if he had ate bull for a breakfast. 'Ladies first.' he muttered and shoved her toward the frame.

The blonde didn't seem to mind the handling, just acted as if he was acting incredibly stupidly and she hadn't expected any better. She fell on the floor without much of a problem, ignoring the way a chuunin that was running inside stopped to stare first at her, then at the redhead who has just practically tossed her out of the window.

Placing her hands on her pockets, she used them to straighten her vest, then simply walked away, not looking back. Her stomach felt a little hot and heavy and it made her feel sort of queasy, almost like if she was about to start feeling nauseous. She blamed it on the orange smell. She told herself it would be gone after she had a shower and washed it off. She almost believed it, too.

The redhead on the other hand had only closed the window. After that his legs turned into two sticks filled with jelly so he had simply slid down the wall, looking at the ceiling. One of the green bitter fruits had laid nearby, so he started biting at it, despite the strange bitterness. But when his tooth had cracked suspiciously as he tried to cut through it, he had threw it at the opposite wall. The object crashed, showing the white filling of the walnut. The redhead didn't even try it out. Until the nurse had came in, he had just sat in the darkness and stared in front of himself.

Living. Grieving.


	27. Chapter 27

Mail from Kushina eventually arrived. It described in graphic detail how, as she had suddenly found herself the lucky owner of an unoccupied room at the Wind country building, she had done her duty as a friend and kept it warm and lived in by enthusiastically engaging in orgies including (but not limited) to men, women and certain funny shaped weapons and one or two summons. The card ended with assurances that she made sure to turn his mattress around so no one would see the suspicious stains and asking him if Blondeie had killed him or something, as she had expected him to be back at least half a week ago, and there still were no signs of short angry redheads in the near vicinity.

The redhead usually didn't do such things, but in the end he had managed to save a paper handkerchief and drew a big heart over it, in which he had simply wrote what would happen to her is she had only touched his belongings (that included kunais, knives, coat hangers and spoons) and promised to give her body to the cannibals if she had managed somehow to have tell anyone he was not in Suna as he destined to be. He had also wrote down that he was completely fine and that thanks to the Minato's unexpected frog party he was now joyfully sightseeing Konoha and setting it on fire.

'_I hope your girlfriend will choke on your sperm, love, Daichi.'_ He had wrote on the end of the note. Nice. That's how he wanted it. And then he had quietly summoned his smallest eagle and told to it to fly the slowest it could. Because nothing had made a day brighter than the turtle-speed of the post.

'Kakashi-kun?'

Minato poked the boy sprawled on the grass a little. Maybe she should stop training before he physically collapsed…

The small hand had immediately grabbed her, and before she could stop him, he was already sitting on her back, squeezing her by the neck.

'Got'cha!' he yelled right into her ear 'Where have you been?'

Talk about energetic…. The girl turned around without pushing the boy off herself, so he was now straddling her stomach. She pulled him closer so she could inspect a small cut on his cheek, but it didn't seem important, so she let go of him.

'I went to talk to Sabaku,' she said, leaning back on the grass and placing one hand behind her head, looking at the tree directly on top of them. 'I didn't hit him this time.'

'That's cool.' Said the kid, this time letting go of his physical strength and laying flat on her stomach 'What did he say?'

The blonde put her free hand on the whitish strands, stroking the kid's scalp like if he were a cat, brows furrowed into a thoughtful expression.

'That I'd ruined his life, that I owed him stuff but that he didn't want it, that he'd rather never have met me, that I would never be happy with what I have-' she paused, her frown deepening '…and something about fire.'

Kakashi propped his head on his elbows at that and looked at her thoughtfully. A single strand of grass had handled from his mouth as he chewed on it. 'And what did you tell him on that?'

Another somewhat lengthy pause from the blonde. 'That he stole, was lazy, did nothing…' the blonde's face contorted into an odd expression, as if she'd having a box of sweets and found one of them to be filled with a living bug. 'And that he had no right to blame me those things when he did them himself. And that I'd trusted him and he'd abandoned me, before.'

The kid's ears perked at that. 'He had abandoned you before?'

'Yes.'

'You knew him before?' Kakashi was visibly surprised by that.

'Yes.'

'You must've been pretty bad enemies.' He stated after a moment of silence and rolled over on his back, so he could also stare at the sky 'Dad says that teammates are not enemies and even if they are, they are not when they're teammates. I don't know what it means…' he said, smiling to the sky '…but it sounds smart.'

'Taicho usually does.' Even when she didn't like what he had to say. And even though she usually didn't know how to put his advice in practice. There was a ladybug walking over the leaves of the tree branch she was looking at, blue eyes following the trail of the creature as it chased tiny green insects, attentively with cannibalistic intentions. 'He wasn't my enemy, he was my sempai.'

'Your elder brother?'

The girl stopped looking at the ladybug to give the kid next to her an incredulous look.

'He was a chuunin when I first went to the academy. We were friends.'

'Friends?' This time the kid looked even more confused. 'Then why are you not friends anymore? You always say bad things about him, I didn't know that he was your friend.'

The blonde frowned at that, her eyes automatically shifting to the far right. After a moment she turned around, giving the back to the younger kid.

The kid frowned at such treatment. 'What are you doing?' he asked, as he crawled toward her and hunched over her side, so he could look at her face. 'Sensei? Why are you not friends?'

The girl didn't try to push him away, even though talking about the matter didn't make her happy. Jiraiya had very awkwardly tried to ask her a couple times why she wasn't on speaking terms with Sabaku, but between the deaths of his students and his own hospitalization there hadn't been much time until they actually left. And by then, she had told herself it was nothing, and so that's what she'd told him.

'…A lot of things happened then,' she said after another moment, curling a little more on herself. 'But back then there were some problems… Mostly because everyone thought I was a boy.' She failed to mention her own hand on not correcting anyone of such an assumption. 'And when he found out I was a girl, he didn't want me as a friend anymore. To him girls can't amount to anything, so everything I did before was automatically negated for something I couldn't help-' She paused, realizing that she was talking faster and rising on volume and not wanting to show how much it had affected her. 'I hate being a girl.'

'You can't help being a girl.' said Kakashi, then shrugged 'I don't think it's bad. I like girls.'

Then he had lied on her side a little more and chewed on the grass for a moment, looking at the sky. 'I heard that's how the people at the Sand village are. They treat girls as if they were not equal to boys.' He said. All that he heard was from his dad, the things he had learned at school didn't touch cultural differences yet. He shrugged also 'I guess he can't help being like that either.' Then he looked at her, not changing the position one a bit. 'But I wouldn't stop liking you if I heard you were a boy suddenly knowing you're a girl and otherwise. It doesn't matter.'

'It does matter. No one ever treats you the same if you are a girl, not even Tsunade-sensei.' But it was nice, hearing it, nonetheless. Just as nice as when sensei had told her he still wanted her as a student. But of course, if she had been a boy, sensei would have never gotten mad at her for accepting joining the ANBU squad.

'It's not fair.' And it had never been. She hadn't asked to be born that way. 'I told him I wanted him to treat me like before he found out I was a girl. He called me a whore and slapped me for it, and he never would have if I had really been a man.'

Kakashi had only looked at her. Such things were once again things he didn't understand very well – more of an adult world than his, and he still couldn't see the hindering in the sand ninjas thinking. 'Told ya.' He only stated and looked once again up in the sky 'They don't treat women as equals.' He didn't know much more than that.

'It's still not my fault, and he shouldn't blame me for it.' Minato's tone was uncommonly bitter. 'It doesn't matter anyway, when I accepted the mission I already knew I would have to work with him, and I was willing to forget all of that, but he won't let me.' With one hand, she started tearing bits of grass from the floor, twirling them through her fingers before letting go and snatching some more. 'The problem is he won't let go of it. He's always bringing it up over and over and over. And each time he does she says weirder stuff.'

Kakashi had only rolled over her, so he could finally face her. When he did, he started tearing grass just like she did. 'What weird stuff?' he asked curiously.

The girl frowned. 'Just weird. Stuff I can't understand.'

'Is he talking in sunanian?'

'Sunanins only write differently.' she said 'They talk the Ame. Sometimes fancier, but it's just the same.'

'Oh.' Said Kakashi, not really seeming to be impressed 'Then what is he saying?'

'I have no idea.' the girl said, slumping more on the floor. 'And when I ask him, he says it's no use explaining it to me.'

'Maybe he thinks it's not complicated.' Said the boy looking at her 'My dad always tells me that I will get some things when I grow up, but I just get the right books and know right away, so I don't have to.'

'Maybe he's an idiot.' the girl said in a bitterest tone. 'Maybe he doesn't know why he's mad and needs an excuse and can't think of anything coherent enough.'

'Maybe.' He had never met someone who talked things without reason, but who knew, maybe such people also existed.

Minato let the matter drop, not really in the mood to try to analyze why the redhead was insane or trying to drive her mad with his stupidity also. 'Kakashi…'

The kid looked up at her, not stopping his playing with the grass. 'Yes?'

'Hokage-sama said he'll have to stay with me until the medics say he's good enough to come back to the academy.' She turned a bit more so she was lying on her stomach, giving the younger boy a nervous look. 'Please stay with me and make sure I won't accidentally kill him?'

'Only if he won't kill me.' Answered the boy, then smiled widely 'My dad wouldn't like that.'

'I wouldn't like that either,' the girl said, just as seriously, before giving the boy a tight squeeze.

'It shouldn't be that bad.' thought Kakashi. After all, how bad could a ninja be? Minato's subordinate of course.

And it wasn't. It was only not as great as he thought it will be. The man he thought of being a brown version of Hulk came out to be an average muscled man with hair aflame like a fireplace and face clamped in an expression that made lemons look sweet. Kakashi didn't see him when he had been in hospital, neither he had seen him getting into the blonde's flat – so he didn't really know what to expect.

Once he had came in thought, he had acted out like he usually did. He smiled toothily and tried to give the man his hand. Daichi had only looked at him like at something that wasn't worth his attention.

'Hey.' He said instead of a natural 'hello' 'Hey, hey you! Mrs. Bitch! You didn't say anything about living with a snot!'

That was the first sign of why not to like redhead. Kakashi was an optimist though. Even if he was called names, he didn't really feel bad about it – he was not emotionally attached to the man, so he had no problem with bearing his mood. He was a stranger here, after all, not Kakashi.

'What are you doing?' he asked him, when he was sitting on the chair and looking like if he was about to fall down from it. 'I'm trying to sleep, and what do you think.' He muttered back.

'Then why don't you use bed?' he asked.

'Then why don't you shut up.' He only answered angrily 'If you're so smart go study a bit of culture of my country, then you will know, Mr. Son of a Known Ninja!'

That was the second reason why not to like him.

He seemed to be angry at everyone, and that meant even his dad who even wasn't there. He didn't understand why and what had happened to make him so bitter, but it was a bit pitiful to watch him snap out at everyone. He reminded him of a wild lynx they caught once with dad. The thing was so scared it went mad at every louder sound, including the time when he dropped his kunais. It hissed and growled and tried to run a mile in a small cage, and yet, they couldn't let it out before they cured it's paw. It had almost costs his dad left eye and there were no thanks from it once it was freed. But he knew he felt unsafe and he didn't blame it. The redhead, however…

'Why are you so mad at everyone?' he asked once when he couldn't stop muttering something to himself, obviously annoyed, The man had gotten up from the table without a word and got out of the house who knows where. He didn't try to chase him and didn't try to ask him again. It seemed that his age mattered here. In a bad meaning. But maybe it was because the redhead tried to sleep at the chair for the third night. He couldn't imagine how hard his back could ache after that.

It seemed like if Minato couldn't wait for the man to get out of the house to cling to the little boy and thank him for being there. It was harder to snap at the man when she was supposed to be some sort of example to the future shinobi. Not that there was much interaction between the two of them. Apparently the chat at the hospital had been the final point and from then the redhead had thankfully stopped with talking in riddles and settled for openly insulting her, which was notoriously easier to ignore than his other words.

Besides, it was hard to take him seriously when he usually stuck to repeating the same insults over and over. She just hoped Kakashi wouldn't ever dream of treating anyone the way the redhead treated her. It would cost him more than one teeth, especially in a village like Konoha.

When Kakashi had to go to the school, Minato was careful to keep herself busy by arranging her scrolls, trying to perfect that stupid seal that still didn't want to get done and making sure Sabaku didn't murder her cat. They grey Tabby… Abhorred Sabaku. That on itself wasn't much of a surprise. Minato knew the tempestuously moody animal tolerated her presence with very sporadic show of understanding of the rules of the house here and there. It didn't dare swipe at Kakashi anymore after it had scrapped the boy in the hand and she had almost drowned it in the tub, but whenever the boy was around it would hiss threateningly at him.

But no, ever since the redhead had so much as set foot in the department, there had been this bizarre noise coming from the couch… And the problem wasn't the nonstop yowling and hissing of the creature... The problem was that it kept attacking the redhead. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it, but Sabaku was just there, trying to catch a nap on the table and the cat had literally stalked closer and jumped at him. She barely had time to catch it before the redhead decided to stab it.

Of course, the cat didn't take her handling nicely. She had coexisted peacefully with the creature for three years, ever since she has moved into this building, and all of the sudden her hands looked like Freddy Krueger had decided to play tic-tac-toe with it. She bore with it as calmly as possible, mostly by kicking the cat out, but Sabaku didn't make it any easier.

She let him cook himself whatever he wanted, but apparently he wasn't any better at making edible means that he had been when he was fifteen and mostly lived from things that could be eaten raw and variety of nuts they got at the market. She would have liked to help him with that, but it somehow felt like if he was being this disastrous on purpose so she could offer him help and he could say something scathing in return.

She wasn't very surprised when she was told by the doctor Sabaku needed proper rest and proper diet and then looked at her for long enough time for her to get it was an open critique to her way or handling. She had pretended not to understand what he was talking about long enough for him to get fed up and leave. Why was it her responsibility that the man couldn't act his age?

'Sabaku-sama, we are wasting time.' she told him that day, not really looking at him as she put a band aid on her new collection of scratches. 'You know I have no interest in killing you, so I you don't want to sleep in a futon and you won't take the couch, please take the bed. Kakashi and I will sleep in the living room.'

'I'm not hurrying anywhere.' muttered the man, laying with his head on the table. The lack of sleep surely got into his tone of voice and made him sound less threatening than he wanted to be.

'You mean you have been making yourself purposely weaker these past days?' she didn't sound particularly concerned about the notion, it sounded a bit too farfetched to be true.

'You mean you have been making yourself purposely weaker these past days?' he mocked in return, then moved onto the other cheek, facing her away. 'You're so kind and nice, I'll be sure to never get back here again.'

'That means you were...?' she stopped trying to get the band aid stuck between her fingers to look at him.

'Shut up! I'm trying to sleep!' was shouted from upon the surface.

'If you were you'd at least lay on the couch.' the girl countered calmly, going back to her efforts on wrapping her hands. 'What you are doing right now is collecting kinks.'

The slam of the hands against the table was the only answer. The redhead got up from the table and went out to the roof yet once again.

'What's going on?' asked Kakashi as he observed the redhead climbing the roof at the windy weather.

Minato shrugged and gave him her hand so he could help put the remaining band aids over her cuts. 'Sabaku-sama is angry over something.' which wasn't any sort of news of any sort of new kind. '…Am I being unkind?'

'I dunno.' Said the kid, eagerly helping her out. He had knowledge when it came to such things and he liked doing that, because he knew he did it well. 'I didn't see what's happened.'

'I mean in general.' She pulled her hand back to inspect the boy's work, then messed his hair a bit. She turned to the counter, inspecting around for what she had left and deciding on a bit of leftover chicken to give the cat now that Sabaku wasn't around to be its victim or give her new lacerations.

She gave the redhead as much space as possible, didn't talk to him unless it was absolutely necessary, offered him as many commodities as the reduced space of her department offered and all the redhead did was growl at her. She was starting to wonder if he would like to pounce her and try to kill her like the cat seemed decided on doing to him.

Kakashi shrugged a bit, then took a chair to stand on it, so he could reach the cookie jar. 'He is acting very mean for the most of the time.' He said and took out a cookie 'I think it would be good to not talk to him at all if you don't want to hear his words.'

The blonde gave a look to the kid, then reached and picked one of the cookies herself. They were those sort of big-as-your-hand-sorta-homemade kind, with chocolate chips. They were more expensive than the usual kind, but she liked the extra size, the extra chips and the extra flavor to want to save on that.

'I would, but I can't stay here forever.' she said, taking a small bite and letting the bit of chocolate melt in her mouth before licking her lips. 'Doctor came here today and scolded me as if it were my fault he doesn't want to take proper care of himself.'

'Then tell him to take care of himself.' said Kakashi and munched on the rest of the cookie without much of grace 'You're his captain. He has to obey your orders.'

The blonde ate hers more leisurely, giving the boy a look that indicated he was being a little piggy again, but not really saying anything.

'He won't listen to me either way.' she said instead, taking another small bite and repeating the action. 'I think he's doing it on purpose, but if he is, I don't know why. Other than wasting time, I don't think that him being weak accomplishes anything at all.'

'Maybe he can't take care of himself.' said Kakashi and climbed the chair to get another cookie. After a second thought, he took out three more and left them on the shelf, while he took the jar down with himself 'Did you try to feed him? When I'm sick, dad feeds me.'

The blonde gave the boy a look, finishing her cookie. 'Are you going to eat dinner if you are having that many cookies?'

'No, obviously.' Said the boy, shrugging and looked out of the window 'It seems that he also doesn't, he is sleeping on the roof.' A light roar came from further away. Kakashi took out another cookie and bit on it in silence. The first droplet of rain fell on his nose like a missile. He shuddered. Very soon the litany of curses followed from the roof.

'Hey, mister, you want a cookie?' said Kakashi as wetted Sabaku came down through the window. The glare he obtained could make a tiger loose his stripes. 'More for me.' Said Kakashi smiling and he dodged as the redhead swiped his hand centimeters above his head. 'You're very quick, mister.'

'Stop talking to me!' said the redhead, like if the sole idea of addressing the kid turned his stomach inside out. Kakashi had only smiled at him and ran away as it seemed that this time Daichi wouldn't stop at the single punch. After a moment, the man sat once again on the chair he escaped from and he crossed his hands, once again trying to sleep.

The younger girl gave the redhead a look, her eyes staying on him for several seconds, before she shrugged, her hands again on her pockets.

'You should go have a shower,' she said as she passed him in favor to go retrieve the cookie jar from the boy. As much as she liked sweets, Sakumo would scold her if he found out she was encouraging him to miss meals in favor of sweets. 'You are wet.'

'So you could murder me in the basin? No, thank you.' Said the man not even opening his eyes.

She didn't reply to that, just went after Kakashi. A few moments later she was back with the cookie jar. 'If I wanted you dead I would just have let you go to Suna.'

'What do you want.' He muttered 'For me to have eye bags like a panda, so I'd look like an idiot? You say you want me to rest but all I hear here is your blabber when I actually do try to rest. Are you stupid?'

'You already have eye bags like a panda.' the girl informed him calmly. "And for all your trying to rest, you haven't done anything so far. Please go have a shower and sleep in my bed. If you are that worried, you can leave one of your pretty summons to poison us in the door to make sure you'll be undisturbed.'

The redhead finally opened his eyes and hunched forward. 'How many times do I have to repeat that I'm not going to sleep in woman's bed. When will it get through your head that the only time I will do that I'll be married?'

'I already offered you a futon.' the girl said in the same tone that hinted she was doubting his ability to correlate words to their accurate meanings. 'I'll bring it while you shower.'

'You never said you have a futon.' Said the redhead. Kakashi came back, strangely not annoyed by the fact he didn't have cookies. Also, he seemed to be busy licking a lollipop.

'I've offered you the futon exactly thirteen times since you came.' the girl said, as if she wasn't surprised he hadn't heard her. She wasn't, but it did piss her off just the same, she just wasn't going to show it. 'I even bought it just for you, so no fear of female cooties infecting you.'

'You're lying.' said the man, but he had got up from the table 'It doesn't matter, I'm too tired to argue. If you really have it, then do something about it, and I'll go brush my teeth and kill a kid, so I can lay down.'

'I can help you hold the kid.' said Kakashi, like if he didn't understand the insult. The redhead passed him much without an answer.

She didn't think he'd listen to her, but that was not her problem. She went to the closet, retrieving the unopened package and dragging it to the middle of the narrow aisle. She didn't have high hopes he'd trip on it and break his nose or something, but it was the thought that counted, right?


	28. Chapter 28

The redhead actually did go to the bathroom. He washed his face there and almost tripped on Kakashi when he went out from it.

'What do you want again.' He much assuredly growled.

'I wanted to know if you're afraid of the dark.' said Kakashi, following him. Daichi laughed without much happiness.

'I'm a ninja. Stop with the questions already.'

Stupid kid.

'I know.' Answered the kid, but it didn't seem to discourage his curiosity 'I just thought that you might be different because in Suna there's strong sun all day long and even in night the sky shines very strongly and-'

'Do you want me to break your skull?' said Daichi, turning on his step. Kakashi had also stopped.

'No.' he answered honestly.

'Then stop talking.'

'I will if you will play with me.'

Daichi once again topped and looked at the kid. 'Are you kidding me?' he asked this time, much more annoyed 'I don't have time for such trivialities. I'm a Third Kazekage's protégée and…'

'So what? You don't do much during the whole day.' said Kakashi and walked forward passing him 'And I heard that Suna ninja are strong. I want to copy some of your techniques.' Daichi sighed. Whatever shut the kid up. He was too tired to think.

'Like if you could. Tomorrow at five.' He muttered and also moved forward.

'I can't, I have school.' Said Kakashi, frowning.

'In the morning, brat. Show some guts.' He said and opened the door to his room 'Or I'll read you a nighttime story.' Kakashi had only smiled at him. Daichi ignored him.

The blonde sighed. She'd have to remember to buy more bandages and painkillers and remind Sabaku Kakashi really did need to go to classes before the man decided to spar with him, but at least Sabaku had gone to sleep, which removed the main source of her irritation and allowed a more appropriate state of mind for what she wanted. It took her a while to decide on what to do. Minato was good about thinking under pressure and finding quick solutions when there was no time to doubt, but if given more than two options and plenty of time to reach a conclusion, she tended to over think. As it was, Kakashi had finished his homework, gone feed the dogs at home and then come back to have a shower himself by the time

'If this doesn't work, you are not that much of a genius.' the girl told the boy seriously once she was done making sure she had towel-dried his hair sufficiently. 'Go get me mint leaves, please.'

Years ago, when she was a stupid genin, it wasn't unusual for Daichi's old team to break into the kitchen to get something to eat. Being the bottomless pit she'd always been, Minato had never had any sort of issue with following them. As a woman, she was sure Daichi's other teammate knew how to cook, but of course, she never got invited to those excursions. In Sagara's own words, Daichi could burn water (he had already proven that to be true the previous day when he nearly set the kitchen on fire trying to make instant ramen- though she was willing to give the benefit of the doubt due his weakened state and lack of sleep) so Sagara was always the one in charge of the impromptu midnight snacking. Not that he seemed to know much, as it always seemed to consist of the same exact thing every night, but at least it was tasty and simple enough she still remembered how it was done… sorta.

Back then it had sounded awfully complicated, but that was before Jiraiya had gotten fed up with her eating things raw if she didn't think she could cook them and actually sat her down long enough to teach her how to at least follow a recipe without the recipes being hazardous for anyone's health. It took her a little while of looking at the ingredients until she remembered accurately the order in which they were supposed to be used, but the end result showed it had been worth the effort.

The scrambled eggs at least looked like she remembered them they were supposed to, though maybe a bit less creamy than she would have proffered. The flavor seemed all right enough, though. 'Go tell Third Kazekage-sama's protégée that if he's not too busy moping, he should come help me with the tea before I ruin it.' she told the kid, looking at the small pieces of chicken liver she had at hand, and then just shrugging and placing them in the pan to cook with what was left of the scrambled eggs and garlic.

Kakashi had immediately ran away to the right room, screaming on the top of his lungs. Daichi did sleep soundly, but when the kid had landed on him like a bomb on a war, he had managed to shoot the ceiling with a shuriken and almost break the kid's neck in a tight nelson hold. Kakashi didn't seem to be scared one a bit though.

'You're up.' He said, when he let go of him. The brat was smiling. 'The food's done, mister.'

'I didn't ask you for anything.' He barked, but the kid once again was running away, screaming about him being woken up. He wondered about getting back to sleep once again, but then his nostrils were brushed by the smell of the food.

Holly mother of the wind. It was his homemade food. He was not sentimental, but it was enough to tickle his curiosity and get him out of the room.

'What the heck is going on?' he asked when he entered the kitchen. Yep. Definitely scrambled eggs with garlic.

'Dinner,' the blonde said as she cut bits of peppers and zucchini, every now and then pausing to give the liver a stir so it wouldn't burn. 'I got the things to make mint tea but I can't remember how it's done, please finish it.'

The man without much of a question came over the pot and filled it with the needed ingredients that laid nearby. 'And the occasion is?' he asked humorlessly.

The blonde shrugged lightly, pulling the liver out of the skillet and into a plate.

'Dinner.'

'Not this.' He said as he sat near the table 'The food. Why it's Suna's kitchen and not something from here.'

'Because the one with iron deficiency who can't cook is from Suna.' the blonde said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, not stopping with the carrying of plates and clutter to the table. 'Nin from our village aren't half as picky with our food, so we don't mind accommodating.'

The redhead didn't answer, only looked at her with suspicious glare. It obviously was not something he had expected.

'Are you…' he said after a long moment of silence 'Are you trying to flirt with me?'

That at least made the blonde slow down to a stop and turn to give the older man an incredulous look. Ever so slowly, she turned to give the same look to the white-haired boy, as if she thought she had somehow severely misheard the question and the other could repeat it for her in a context that was slightly less bizarre.

Kakashi had only looked back at her and quickly darted his gaze away, suddenly becoming very occupied with a glass of juice he had managed to grab himself. He was not going to have anything with it. The redhead had only frowned in confusion even more and looked at her in silence.

The blonde frowned at the lack of help from her supposed companion, then turned back to look at the redhead.

'No, I'm not.'

'I see.' Said the man, but he didn't stop looking at her with his confused stare. Still observing her, he had slowly took a sip of the tea. It tasted like it should.

'Is it ready?' she asked, making a gesture towards the teapot. She obviously thought the matter was over.

'Yes.' He said and grabbed it, taking it over the table. Kakashi had already been sitting there, waiting for both of them to sit down also.

'Drink it while it's hot.' the girl said, planting a tall glass of mint tea in front of the pre-genin and starting to eat. She made a point out of not looking at the man, but that the redhead was eating at all was the whole point of this, wasn't it. She guessed Kakashi was a little genius after all, huh. She'd have to tell his father.

The redhead didn't say a word during the whole meal. Once he was done, he walked away without a single thanks and without even putting the plates to the sink. Kakashi had looked at him walking away and sighed. 'If he is as bad as ninja as with his manners, then he seriously is not worth a fight.' And he burped. The next day, when the teacher asked his name to conform his presence in the class, he didn't answer. His side of the face was so puffed out that much less talking made it hard for him.

It was good that the teeth he lost were only his first ones. But now his holes had been enlarged by two more missing teeth.

If Sabaku had so much as brushed a stray finger on Kakashi under any other circumstances, Minato would have gotten really angry at him, and likely do something regrettable. As it was, the fact that Kakashi has asked the man for a spar even after she'd warned him he would regret it was indisputable.

'I don't think he'll be able to chew for a couple days.' she told the redhead while she practiced calligraphy with a brush on a stray scroll. The blonde was sitting on the floor, he prose appropriate for what she was doing, though maybe a bit lax. 'I'm not in the mood for soup or anything like that, I'll just make something for him later. What do you want to eat? I'll order.'

'It will do good him with all those sweets he is eating.' Said the redhead and moved out of the room. The question about dinner remained unanswered.

The blonde waited until she finished her scroll, then got up and laid it to dry, before going to get another one. 'What do you want to eat?' she asked on her way back, stopping in front of the door. 'I'll get takeout.'

'Stop bothering me.' Muttered the redhead 'I don't care what you order. I'm not hungry.'

At the answer she paused at the door, thinking. She'd rather leave him alone and save herself the embittering situation. Really, she had enough with the murderous Tabby hiding under the couch after Sabaku caught it with a kunai. On the other hand, Kakashi's advice had worked yesterday, and the truth is that she wouldn't mind trying again if it weren't because that's the only sort of thing about Suna she knew how to cook. Taicho had told her to try talking at her teammates, too. Not listening to it hadn't taken her exactly far.

She looked down at her hands. The scroll was still there, and as a security measure, she left it by the door before walking into the room, carefully trading around the futon, least she accidentally contaminated his sacred sleeping space.

'You haven't eaten since yesterday, and it's almost lunchtime.' She said to the redhead staring moodily at the light rain outside from his perch at the window. 'And you are healthy enough to be hungry.'

The redhead turned his head around and looked at her from under his eyebrows. 'Now you're nice?' he asked 'What is it, guilty, or greed? I don't have anything I could give you.' Then he turned toward the window again and kept starring at it stubbornly.

The blonde stared at him, talking a moment to wonder why should she feel guilt over anything she'd done to the redhead, at least recently, or anything she should feel greedy about. She came predictably empty handed. 'I'm always nice, you just won't let me.'

The man had turned around. He bit through his lips. Then he had uttered a booming laughter that lasted for only a few seconds. Then he turned around toward the windowsill. 'Your way of being nice can kill.' He said and laughed again.

She opened her mouth to tell him that she had, in fact, saved his life, but considering he either ignored her or sulked harder whenever she mentioned how his master would have killed him if he'd made it to Suna, she closed It again and sighed. 'How would you like for me to be nice, then?'

The man had only shook his head and hunched more. 'You're an idiot.' He muttered, and brushed his hand over his hair 'But I'm even bigger for falling for you. You can't be nice anymore. You can't do anything. You've destroyed all that was left. Stand up and sing a song, the scene's over.'

And again with the twisted topics… The redhead really seemed to have a fixation.

'Okay… I'm not nice. I'm an idiot. I'm a bitch and a whore and whatever other witty insults and names you see fit to address me with.' The girl said, just as calmly as before. 'As we have already establishes those fundamental truths about the universe, can we please move along to more pressing topics? What do you want for lunch? Same as yesterday? Because that's the only thing I know how to cook from Suna, and if you want that we need to go buy eggs.'

The redhead had turned to her with the most obvious 'you must be kidding me' glare. A moment later he had turned back. 'A dry bread.' he muttered 'I'll soften it with my tears.'

The younger woman rolled her eyes. And then Kakashi wondered how the redhead was weird… When it came down to it, she didn't understand. And of course, when she told him she didn't, he just ignored her.

'Again, how do you want for me to be nice to you? I don't know what you want.'

The redhead stilled against the frame. Then he slowly turned toward her. His gaze was bitter and shallow. 'Off with the clothes.' He muttered ghastly.

The girl cocked her head to the side. 'You want me to take off my clothes?'

'All of them.'

'What for?'

'You're questioning me?'

The blonde was getting more and more confused. 'Yes.'

The man had only smiled and turned his head to the window again. 'I knew you wouldn't do it.'

'...Why would I have taken off my clothes without a reason to?'

'Go get the food.'

'What do you want to have?'

The redhead had finally turned around completely and looked at her with enclosed face. 'I want bread.' He said, looking at her with a pitiful stare 'I want butter, goat's cheese, dates, red tea and crunchy rice. That's what I want to have.'

'I don't know how to make Pita bread, is it okay if we buy it at the market?' the rest sounded like something that should probably be at the store.

'Of course.' He muttered. 'Do you want me to write it down for you?'

'It would be better if you came with me, you are not supposed to stay unsupervised...' and her summons were still feeling understandably less than appreciative of the redhead. The previous day Team Blue had tried to jump on top of the redhead before she could so much as tell them they weren't supposed to harm him.

'Shopping food is woman's job.' Said the redhead and turned around 'You can leave a clone with me.'

'I'm paying, so technically, I'd still be the one shopping,' the girl said, shrugging lightly. 'You'd be more like a lost tourist or something like that.'

Daichi blinked and looked at her. 'Why do you want me to go with you?'

'Because you haven't left it besides going to sulk to the roof and beat Kakashi-kun up.'

The redhead smiled at the answer and looked at her. 'If that's the case.' He said 'Then let's go and infiltrate your place.'

That night, after convincing Kakashi to swallow a few anti-inflammatory and a capsule or two of painkillers with several scoops of ice cream, the blonde sat at the table, leaving the couch to the redhead reading her scrolls and set to write a letter. She touched the non-wet end of the brush to her mouth, tapping it lightly to her front teeth once or twice. When that probed unsatisfactory, she reached for the remaining takoyaki on a stick and started munching on the now coldish octopus.

_Dear Taicho: I've tried this whole conversational thing with Sabaku-sama, but I'm not sure it works as it's supposed to on Sunanins. At any rate, I'm not hitting him with things so far and he's eating, so I guess it's not a complete loss. We'll hopefully be going back soon anyway, so let's hope it keeps working, wish me luck. Atte Namikaze M. _

_Ps: Kakashi-kun doesn't have any permanent teeth yet, does he?_

Daichi observed the light from the crack in the door without any sign of movement. Somewhere in the faraway lands Sasori from Red Sands beheaded the Kazekage and left the air steeped with the scent of blood.


	29. Chapter 29

_AN: I'm sorry, but the chapter 28 is the last part this story __has; I decided to step into the play at this moment of the story, as the main pairing of the story didn't have much of the future and from some time playing with Daichi was just simply painful. The character of Kazekage was a chauvinistic hooligan who needed a strong leader whom he could follow – which meant clear rules, a charismatic personality and with dose of respect to his own culture as he was brought up in strong beliefs that couldn't be shaken even with belonging to the massive crowd of every race, village and country. Minato on the other hand was a girl who was emotionally damaged; she didn't understand that actions had consequences and wanted to simply beat both Daichi and Kushina to obedience, forgetting about the fact that when you use stick you have to toss carrot sometimes too. She also took them away from their training, making them both work at hospital, which was maybe not the worst, but actually useless job for both of them, without having the purpose for it; they were not supposed to learn how to heal people or actually learn at all – all job their did was only to pay off the debts they caused. And as much as it was a good choice to do something about the money, their beliefs were headed toward the fact they were punished and something was taken away from them instead of understanding that what they did previously was wrong._

_Also, the romance between Daichi and Minato got shred to nothing; Minato didn't get soon enough that she liked the redhead and Daichi, who got constantly belittled and kicked around by his love interest lost his warm feelings toward her. After making him look bad in the eyes of his master it was slowly led to doom as even something like pity or sense of the fact she did something wrong didn't reach Minato and Daichi couldn't overcome his lack of respect toward women, as neither Kushina or Minato showed him that female kind was not the worst. __The idea of Minato trying to be nice with cooking for the redhead was not bad, but it came much too late. Thus, the characters didn't tune into the same song and the story was leading to rather bland ending where everyone were hurt and unsatisfied._

_Nevertheless, thanks for reading it and I hope you enjoyed at least part of it. _

_Yours, _

_Angevelinka._

_P.S. I'm desperately searching for BETA reader. Is there anyone who'd like to volunteer? I'd be very grateful._


End file.
